This summer I have been re-visiting an old friend. In the way that up until now you have only been able to visit old friends that aren’t human. Many photographers have a scene, a tree, a hill that they visit repeatedly over the years. This oak is only a couple of miles away yet I have neglected it for too long. I photographed it a number of times about a decade ago but never more than passing snaps in different seasons and with different crops. This year I decided to step up a gear, get more serious with it and try and do it justice by photographing it properly ie with an image in mind, not just in passing.

I decided raking evening light would be the way to go and shot it over a couple of evenings. The shot needed pretty clear air because I am about 250m away from it and haze would detract too much. Timing was also key - the shot needed the shadows to add depth so the sun had to be close to setting but not blocked completely by surrounding trees . I like the fact that shadows are cast both by the rolling field and by trees off stage right. I am looking roughly WSW in this shot and in the summer the sun sets sufficiently far beyond west to give the side of the tree some interesting light to make it stand out from the background.

The farmer practises good crop rotation and therefore the field cycles between different crops. Below are versions shot in flowering rape seed and flowering linseed. With lock down easing I am this very evening going to cycle past this tree on my way to see another old friend. But a human one. Even though it’s about 25C outside.