Despite the starting off dull and wet, the clouds lifted and the sun broke through after lunch. As such, I thought it the ideal opportunity to see how the light would be at this time of day.
I took both the 85mm and 35mm along with the tripod and made my way to Teddington Gate arriving at 2.30pm. I thought I would start with this tree (image taken on 1 December 2020). However, the light was totally blocked by the other tree in this image and it was totally in shadow.
Despite this disappointment, the sunlight was illuminating the hawthorns on the left of Hawthorn Lodge.
The following were taken using the 85mm lens and at 5:4 aspect ratio. All of the following images are low res JPGs taken directly from the RAW file with no editing, unless stated.
Tree One
When I arrived home, I cropped the first image to a 1:1 ratio. I thought the dark shadow on the grass in the foreground made the image look ‘heavy’.
I also produced a Black & White conversion to compare the two versions.
Tree Two
I then spotted this hawthorn, which I’ve not photographed before. I particularly like its ambiguity. Not sure of the composition, though.
Tree Three
I then moved onto this hawthorn, which I’ve photographed from a different angle previously.
I realised at this point that it felt I was just ‘going through the motions’. So I tried some close ups of the mistletoe.
When looking at the images at home, I noticed how these close ups show the ‘ancient’ features of the hawthorn.
Tree Four
A stunning tree, but for some reason, I couldn’t get the composition just right. I also realised that I had shot it in portrait. In hindsight, it seems best to shoot a tree in landscape when the canopy is over a particular width. This observation was also useful in depicting a tree with missing branches as ‘whole’ (as with Tree One) or focusing on what was actually there.
Tree Five
I then tried something different with this hawthorn.
Tree Six
Next, I returned to one of my favourite hawthorns. It was interesting to see how this tree looked from a different angle and with the afternoon sun.
Tree Seven
By this time, I was starting to get tired and my concentration was waning. This can be seen in the following shots.
When looking at these images and some of the above, an annoying aspect was starting to make itself apparent. It was the ‘out-of-focus’ foreground featuring either grass or ferns. This is something that could be a feature of an image or a distraction. Something to consider.
Lastly, I took some close ups of this hawthorn. Still not sure about using this type of shot in the final body of work, but there is scope for their inclusion.
Jennie Meadows MA Photography 