Urban and rural location photography #3: Wilderness or Countryside.

I have a bit of a thing for trees (especially snow covered ones) so I decided to focus my wilderness or countryside project on trees rather than on more conventional landscape type images.

Inspirations
Set out below are some examples of images I have found inspirational:

I discovered the work of Charlie Waite through the book Photography in 100 Words by David Clark (Argentum Press), which includes this photograph - Amiens, The Somme:

This led me to the website http://www.charliewaite.com/ where I found more:

Featured in the same book was this picture of Holly and Beech by Harry Cory Wright (http://www.harrycorywright.com/):

Through the Sunday Times Magazine I discovered Annabelle Nicoll http://annabellenicoll.com/:

Whilst Ansel Adams is a photographer I have long admired - http://www.anseladams.com/:

In Ag Magazine (www.ag-photo.co.uk) I discovered Paul Gallagher (he has published a series of articles about shooting the landscape in black and white). The images below are from Google images:

One of my favourite photographers is Michael Wheatley (www.michaelwheatley.ca/) who I bought some prints from at Granville Island Market in Vancouver in 2008:

You will see that there is a general theme here.  All of the above images focus on the shapes, the textures of rough bark and velvety moss, the lines and patterns made by the trunks, the twisted branches and roots, the symmetry, the abstract, the colours.  These are not 'pretty' tree pictures but images which capture the mood expressed in this poem by Michael S Glaser:
 

The Presence of Trees

I have always felt the living presence

of trees

the forest that calls to me as deeply

as I breathe,

as though the woods were marrow of my bone

as though

I myself were tree, a breathing, reaching

arc of the larger canopy

beside a brook bubbling to foam

like the one

deep in these woods,

that calls

that whispers home.

Concept
My concept was simple.  To attempt to capture the aesthetic of trees though lines, patterns, shapes and textures as the above photographers have done.

Planning and planned outcomes
The aim was to take images in a variety of settings, light and weather conditions.  Whilst I had a particular aim of trying out compositions which focus on the straight lines of trunks I was also open to experimenting and trying other types of composition just to 'see what I got'.

To that end there was minimal planning - I just picked up the camera and took it out.  Some pictures were taken whilst on holiday so that involved planning around skiing and plotting a route when hiking.  Otherwise I just took things as they came.

I used two cameras a Canon EOS 50D with a choice of standard, wide-angle, macro and super zoom lenses and a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7 with a f=6mm to 72mm lens.  Details of the cameras and lenses used are given by selected images below.

Research
I didn't do any specific research on places other than to go to locations with lots of trees!

Outcomes

1) In and around Yarrow Valley Park, Chorley
I visited the park on 5 Jan 2010 when it was largely overcast but with some sunny spells and on 6 Jan 2010 when it was bright and sunny with clear skies.
I experimented taking close up images of snow covered branches and twigs, some trying to catch the contrast of the branches against the clear blue sky.  These were taken with Canon 50D and EFS 18-200mm f/3.5-5 lens or an EF 100mm f2.8 macro lens.

These are some selected images from the above sheet:

s18-200mm lens at 100mm  ISO200 f/5.6 1/320

This image captures the rising sun turning the snow on the branches pink.  It was taken against a ridged background so that the tangled patterns of the branches and the straight lines of the background create a slightly abstract effect.  The image has been slightly cropped.

s18-200mm lens at 80mm ISO 200 f5.0 1/320

Trying to achieve a similar effect to the previous image but this time against the blue sky - the background colour is more prominent here and the pink tinge of the snow is lost.  There is no post-production editing on this image.

EF 28mm lens ISO 200 f/5.6 1/100

Another branches against sky image, this time taken from further away to take in several trees.  It was also taken later in the day when the light was harsher and the sky more washed out.  Post production I increased the blue saturation to bring some colour back into the sky.

Original image

Edited image

EF 28mm lens ISO 200 f/5.6 1/160

This was taken from a different perspective, looking directly at the tree trunks and branches, rather than looking up through them to the sky.  I was standing in the shade shooting into the bright sun.  Post production I increased the blue saturation in the sky and used fill light to remove the shadows from the trunks and branches.

I also tried to capture the symmetry of tree trunks - the main concept I wanted to explore.  Several of these images, taken with Canon 50D and EF 28mm f/1.8 USM lens, really capture what I wanted.  I usually take my 18-200mm lens when doing landscape photography so I decided to use the 28mm lens this day to see if it made me look at things differently and I really like the results. I also tried experimenting by deliberately using camera shake and again I like the results - it looks like I was shooting in a blizzard.

Selected images:

28mm lens ISO 200 f/5.6 1/50

28mm lens ISO 200 f/5.6 1/50

With the above two images I experimented with landscape and portrait style shots. I love the lines created by the close set trees, the way the sun lights the trunks and, in the first image, the way the branches come together in a tangle at the top of the frame.  These two and the images below are giving me the symmetry I was looking for.  I like the fact that the snow creates a ghostly feel.  I am still learning how to get the exposure right when shooting snow and with the above images I had to reduce the exposure slightly post-production.

 

28mm lens ISO 200 f/5.6 1/50

Here the original image was very similar to those above, but post production I experimented using lots of fill light to create an almost misty effect, which enhances the ghostly feel.  The original version of the image which appeared quite blue is below:

28mm lens ISO 200 f/5.6 1/50

This was just a slightly different composition, placing some twigs right in the foreground and highlighting the very white trunk of the silver birch in the centre of the image.  This is my favourite of this series I feel I really caught the  "Annabelle Nicoll look" I was after.  There is no post-production editing on this image.

2) The Fairy Glen, Parbold
I visited here on 11 Dec 2009 when it was quite bright but not snowy and again on 9 Jan 2010 when it was bright and sunny and snowy.

Again I was exploring the lines and patterns created by tree trunks - one or two of these worked quite well but the results are not as effective as the previous selection. This time I was using an EFS 18-200mm f/3.5-5 lens.

Selected image:

18-200mm lens at 18mm ISO 200 f/5.6 1/15

Deliberateley over-exposed and kept that way (no post-production treatment) to give a washed out effect.

On these visits I also took pictures of a solitary tree using an EFS 18-200mm f/3.5-5 lens and EF 28mm lens

 
Selected images - same tree different days.  Ansel Adams photographed the same tree in different seasons and I am aiming to do try the same thing with this tree, starting with winter scenes below.

Original image

Edited image

I applied a preset aged effect to this image.  Initially I just tried playing around with the colour of the image but couldn't get it to look quite right so I decided to try it and black and white and then in an aged look which was my preferred version.

Snowy day version

Some fill light and blue saturation applied post production

3) Banff, Canadian Rockies
These images were taken between13-24 Feb 2010 during a holiday and in mixed conditions.  A variety of images were taken around the town of Banff and the ski station of Sunshine.  I think making a good photograph can take time, especially in difficult conditions - it's not ideal when you are trying to combine photography with a  good day ski-ing!  The skies were either grey and the light very flat or cloudless with very harsh, bright light.  I might have produced some better images if able to go back on a  different day with better light or a cloudy dramatic sky.  It's also difficult to get the correct exposure when dealing with a very dark foreground combined with a bright sky or background ref images 4334 and 4719!  Of course some post production manipulation can help - none of the images on this contact sheet have been edited yet, but I've picked out a few that might be worth working on.

Although I like a number of these images the one that is closest to my concept is _MG_4720 on the bottom row of the contact sheet.  This was taken with my 18-200mm lens at 50mm, ISO 100, f/11 1/5.  I decided to experiment and apply some different treatments to this image:

The treatments from top left clockwise are: Sepia, original, aged and black and white.  Whilst I like all the versions I think the black and white treatment gives it an extra dimension with the high contrast, similar perhaps to the black and white image by Paul Gallagher above.

Postscript

Further to the comment Katy added below I have decided to add a few of the experimental shots I took to my blog.  I created these with deliberate camera shake (the first is 4070 that Katy refers to):

I do like the effect - how it looks as if they've been taken in the middle of a snow storm.

This is the  overexposed shot that Katy liked with a different edit where I have tried to bring out some more colour and define the edges more:

 

 Post-postscript

I love the work of Paul Hart in his book Truncated

"It is it’s own world. Stepping into the forest is always like stepping into the unknown, with the semi-dark concealing much, revealing a little. A place sometimes mysterious, sometimes secretive, but always seductive and always dark". (Gerry Badger)

I had another visist to the Fairy Glen on 15 May with an EF 28mm f/1.8 USM lens and converted the images to black and white with a Lightroom preset.  I was aiming to use a large aperture to get maximum depth of field but was handheld so the maxiumum aperture I could use was dictated in part by the shutter speed.

 1/60 sec at f/16

1/8 sec at f/8.0

1/6 sec f/16

1/15 sec at f/9.0

More images, including some in colour, can be found on my flickr site - see links at top and bottom of blog.