Misty Dawn | Weekly Photo #78
One of the things I hear quite a lot from people I talk to or the photographers I follow is that the restrictions on movement many of us have had recently means we have spent more time exploring and photographing local places we once might have overlooked and I think that’s one of the reasons for what appears to be a bit of a woodland photography boom that’s been happening. It may not be everybody’s cup of tea and might not always have the wow factor of the iconic location-centric landscapes but with a woodland in some form on most people’s doorstep, it’s an accessible genre of photography to try and I find it a great motivator to get outside, learn a new subject and most importantly, enjoy some peace and solitude while surrounded by mother nature.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 1/3rd Second | f/9 | ISO200
Having only starting this year, I still consider myself a novice when it comes to woodland photography, being able to see compositions, understand how the light interacts with the plants and trees and how to translate a scene that is pleasing to the eye into an interesting photo that tells a story. Like most genres of photography, there is no substitute for practice and experience and with woodland photography I lack on both counts but that doesn’t daunt me, it’s what motivates me to learn, improve and take photos that I would be proud to hang on my wall.
This photo was taken in my usual Sussex based woodland hangout in September. I’ve visited many times this year but given its size, I’ve yet to explore it all. On this occasion, I was on an early morning walk with my youngest daughter, who seems to be as excited to explore the great outdoors as I am so whenever possible, I gladly bring her along with me.
As we arrived at the car park, the forest was surrounded by dense fog with just a few metres of visibility and too thick to take any woodland photos. Frustratingly, after an hour or so, the sun began to burn through at rapid speed and it took only around 15 minutes to go from thick fog to a clear sunny morning, so I had time to capture just two photos which included some atmospheric mist and this shot of the Scots Pines amongst the ferns was the first.
I was drawn to the arrangement of the trees and the branch that seemed to be arching over the darker void in the background which adds some depth in the photo. By now, the sun was casting a defused light through the mist and onto the trees adding some life into the scene so I stepped back around 20-25 metres, mounted my 55-200mm lens to create a nice tight frame around the scene, being careful to avoid the bright sky and fired the shutter.
I wish I could say that all the work for this shot was done in camera on location but I would be lying, the photo still needed a bit of work in Adobe Lightroom to adjust the tones and colours to better reflect the conditions I experienced while taking the photo. I guess with time, the need to correct or improve in post will reduce as my on-location woodland experience increases.
Until next week
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.