Zigzag | Weekly Photo #80
I took this photo a couple of months ago while I was exploring a new part of my local forest just as autumn was kicking into gear. I came across this funky looking tree while down in a bit of a valley and was drawn to how the trunk zigzags up from the ground and continue to do so all the way along the branches making it really stand out in this area of woodland.
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 86mm | 2 Seconds | f/10 | ISO200
After spotting the tree and deciding to take the picture, I had to find the best spot to shoot it from. Although it may appear straight forward to just wander around to find the best angle, it gets a bit trickier in the woodland because as you move around, all of the elements change. The best angle of the tree may mean a more distracting background or the best distance away may mean you end up with other trees obscuring the view or encroaching into the frame. So, although I would have preferred it if the two trees on the left of the frame were not overlapping, from where I was standing, this was simply the best composition available to me at the time.
Speaking of those trees, I purposely kept them in and to the left to ensure the composition was balanced across the scene. To exclude them would mean placing the zigzag tree in the centre of the frame and I didn’t like that idea and I thought the moss-covered trunk nearest the camera added some more character and enhanced the feeling I was after.
Once I had the composition, I set up my Fujifilm XT2 camera and 55-200mm lens on the tripod and importantly, placed my circular polariser on to the end of my lens. The circular polariser is perfect for a scene like this as it takes off any glare and reflection from the trees while at the same time giving the green moss a real punch and with the green and blue ambient tones, it gave the overall image a cool, dark mystical feel which I like a lot.
I took a few different versions of this composition from landscape to portrait and even zoomed right in to capture the strong lines created by zigzagging branches which turned out really well. I might share it on this weekly photo series in the future. We will have to see.
With the festive season now in full swing and the lights up around a relatively quiet London, I plan to head into town this week to see if I can capture another Christmassy photo and if all goes to plan, I will share it next week. In the meantime, why not pop by last year’s post of the large Christmas Tree in Covent Garden.
Take care of yourselves!
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.