The Performer | Weekly Photo #83
Welcome to my first Weekly Photo post of 2021! Last week I wrote a bit of a 2020 review which, along with some other bits and pieces, featured 9 of my favourite landscape photos I took over the last 12 months which included this foggy woodland photo I took in November. If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, you can find the post here: 2020 | A Photographic Review
Fujifilm XT2 | XF55-200mm | 55mm | 0.5 Seconds | f/11 | ISO200
Misty or foggy conditions seem to be the holy grail for woodland photographers as it can help simplify the scene, add atmosphere and give the feeling of depth in a photo. So, when I first started to take woodland photography more seriously, it took a few months before I had my first taste of sustained fog that allowed me to explore the woodland and take a bit more time to seek out compositions as all of my previous foggy experiences were a bit rushed as the mist was quickly burned away by the sun.
What I learned very quickly was that when I was surrounded by fog, I could see compositions a little more clearly and I took more photos but translating a nice-looking scene into a good photo wasn’t any easier. My eyes quickly adjusted to the conditions and where I thought I could see a well-defined composition with just the right amount clarity in the subject, the photo regularly came out hazy and washed out, lacking any definition at all. Instead of the fog making my job easier, I found it to be just another element to manage in the scene and if I could find the right balance like this photo here, the photo came out ok but the vast majority of photos I took that morning had to be binned. Another woodland photography lesson learned, I guess.
So, after spending an hour or so wandering around the forest, I came across this scene which I was already familiar with and photographed last year when the scene was full of the golden colours of autumn. I liked the arrangement of the trees, the carpet of orange ferns in the foreground and the scene had just the right amount of fog to ensure the foreground had definition but enough haze to bring some nice atmosphere and depth.
I named the photo “The Performer” as when reviewing the photo, I was struck by how the arrangement of the trees appeared to show the tree near the centre of the image standing in a “ta-da” pose after performing some kind of show to the trees that look like the audience on the left and right of the frame. It feels a bit odd to anthropomorphise the trees in my photos but now I have, I see it every time I look at the photo so the name stuck.
Once again, I wish you all a happy and healthy new year and talk to you 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.