When I take photographs I rarely edit them straight away. Particularly if it has been a productive shoot, I like to let the excitement and emotion of the time subside slightly so that I can approach the images slightly more dispassionately and therefore make a more balanced judgement on the photography. When I return to shoots, images that I initially thought would be the best are often usurped by others. Such was the case at one of my trips into the New Forest in autumn. During a later editing session I recognised potential in this image and was delighted with the way it highlights the individual oak in full autumn glory.
The glowing oak, now available as a print!
I shot for a while on that afternoon, continuing well into dusk. It was mid November and I knew it would likely be my last productive autumn trip to the New Forest as it did indeed turn out to be. The light was cold, indirect, shady but when rebalanced for correct leaf colour as the eye would see it, the balance becomes incredibly atmospheric. Below are a couple of other shots on that day - again these were not the images that were not necessarily ‘stand-outs’ in my mind but simple compositions work because the individual trees stand out. The more complex shots did not work as well on this day - too much confusion between trees and not enough separation.
Beech standing out against the large pines.
This time beech is the focus.
One of my final shots, requiring a 30sec exposure.