The trees of Padley Gorge loom above you reaching out for the Sun
I struggle in forests to get a composition I am happy with. There are always so many branches and most of the time very little separation from one tree to the next. A bit overwhelming for someone like me who likes large clean areas of negative space, and big blocky colours. This photo was taken in Padley Gorge in the Peak District, hence Tree Peaks (seriously though why do we have to name photos?)! I was there for a few days with a wonderful group of photographers who make up the landscape circle I am part of through the Royal Photographic Society. This was my first outing with my newly acquired Fuji X-H2 and my first real use of a digital camera having abandoned my old Canon for film photography in 2017. So I am very grateful for their support and guidance during our trip.
Struggling to get a photo of the trees with their twisting trunks and beautiful moss I remembered something an RPS judge once told me, "Look up and down more". So, I pointed my camera up to the sky, and tried to frame each tree in its own corner. Making sure I kept to the rule of thirds, a third of the image for each tree that is. Fuji greens are legendary and their digital offerings also do well in this regard; bringing out the colours of the moss on the tree trunks which lead up to the patch of blue sky. I have reduced the sharpness of the top branches slightly to reduce their impact in the image, which you may or may not agree with! Our landscape circle decided to put together a zine of our images, this one included which you can see in my shop.
I'm also very lucky that this photo was nominated in the 10th Fine Art Photography awards Nature category! Get the print.
Fuju X-H2 & 16-55 mm