woodland | alan frost photography

Autumn mist (Part 2)……… a further selection

This is Part 2 of a short series of posts in which I have tried to capture the light and mood of the landscape when seen through autumn mist. Part 1 can be viewed here.

Mist has the power to simplify a scene and when back lit by the morning sun trying to break through, the light which is cast is really rather special.

Like the first post all three of these images were taken when out walking our dog early in the morning. I never know in these situations what I will see. Sometimes nothing at all, but on other occasions there is a photo opportunity around every corner. It’s a much used cliche……but always carry a camera!

Being creative again……

Why does this picture matter? …….Let me try and give you an answer.

Wandering around Plodda Falls – a complete break from news and social media.

Recent posts of my work have featured on The Outer Hebrides – The islands of Lewis and Harris. On our way to these rather special islands we stayed in the Scottish Highlands at a place called Plodda Falls. Situated to the south of Glen Affric, the nearest village is Tomich, whilst the main town of Inverness is about 35 miles to the North East at the northern end of Loch Ness; famous of course for it’s most elusive monster!

‘Fallen’ in Wildhams Wood

In the location I have chosen to explore and photograph for my new project there are a good number of woodland areas, some of which are managed by the Forestry Commission. Open access to this land is not clear although I underdstand The Forestry Commssion has started the process (in June 2017) whereby it will designate its land for public access under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act.

When I visited this wood recently I stayed on one of the public footpaths. I did though venture into the wood itself having noticed a single fallen pine tree which I thought might be an interesting subject to photograph. This tree had not been felled by a forester. From the angle of its trunk it was clear nature had been the cause of its downfall. I took a number of frames from different positions using either a 90mm short telephoto lens to compress the detail or an 18mm super wideangle to get up close and personal.

Bracken – when an overriding instinct prevails

As hard as I try I can’t break out of my comfort zone. Whenever I find myself in a beautiful location which is full of colour, my instinctive monochromatic mind gets the better of me. As I explore the autumnal woodland of Arne Nature Reserve, near Wareham in Dorset I have a perfectly acceptable colour subject in front of me but in visualising and later processing the image I soon strip away all the colour, and work on a black and white conversion, and here is the result. A shot of ‘Bracken’ in amongst conifers.

I am not colour blind but I do seem to see the world in black and white and of course all the shades of grey in between. I am drawn to a pleasing composition, shapes and lines, strong textures and different tones. I believe my creativity improves once the distraction of colour is removed from the frame. I start to see things more clearly and whilst you cannot tell by looking at an image on a screen, a well printed black and white image on a suitable photographic paper is hard to beat.

Do click on the image to view a larger version and truly appreciate the level of detail in this shot.

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