When the daylight recedes and tress lose their leaves at the end of the year, they take on a sculptural feel. This is in strong opposition to their bright and youthful appearance during spring and summer. Come winter there is nowhere to hide.
Without its leaves, the underlying structure of a tree is revealed. Sometime reminding me of a brain or the pattern of veins and arteries in the human body.
The low light and weather of winter combined with this structure can provide some great subjects for photography, so during the restrictions of the latest Covid-19 lockdown I made Winter Trees into a mini project that I could complete locally. To emphasize the shapes and textures I decided that all the images would be black and white. All were shot handheld with either my Fuji XT-2 or XE-2 and processed in Lightroom.
Between Christmas and New Year, I took a family hike around Coughton Court in Warwickshire. Our planned route proved to be impossible because, following heavy rain, the River Arrow had burst its banks and flooded where we had intended to walk. We changed our route, which with the strong winter sunlight provided some images that I would have missed otherwise. The sky was threatening but the sun burst through at times creating long and dark shadows of the trees. Because of the long shadows and the sun behind me I had to be careful where I stood to avoid my shadow being the the picture too.
In January, during the UK’s third lockdown we had cold days of fog, snow, and frost. Walking during my lunch break, and further at the weekend provided further photographic opportunities around my part of Redditch.
Fog is great for photography in woodlands because it can be used to simplify what might otherwise be a chaotic or over complex scene. Snow and frost bring out contrast and can emphasize shapes and form.
I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I did taking them. I think it shows that with a theme in mind you can create an interesting set of pictures without having to travel far, whatever the weather. If you'd like to write a blog entry for this website and show some of your photos please contact a committee member or use the "Contact Us" form.
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