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I passed this tree in a forest in Snowdonia, this old building was a dwelling in ancient times.
I passed this tree in a forest in Snowdonia, this old building was a dwelling in ancient times.
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Oct, 2014Views
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carolcardillo
October 31, 2014
Congrats on your Award! Interesting find, so much moss! I like the green and the mostly peach color background. :-)
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texaaronpueschel
April 27, 2016
You do very well with trees. This is so appealing.
Thank you for the good words on my pics of trees. We have had a delightful spring in Central California. I took many shots.
Thank you for the good words on my pics of trees. We have had a delightful spring in Central California. I took many shots.
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photograph was taken in a deep woodland area on a hillside above Llyn Dinas near to Beddgelert in Snowdonia.Time
It was just before midday and being in a woodland it was dark because it was raining; not any rain; Snowdon rain which is like having a power shower held over your head. Of course we like it, we embrace it as part of mountain weather.Lighting
The light was shaded and dim and this added to the ambience and mood of the place. For me the mood was everything. The scene was backlit and therefore there was a degree of contrast. Light areas always tend to draw the eye and strong detail in those areas is distracting so the subject was the tree and wall and I decided to open the aperture to f1.8 to throw as much background out of focus as possible. Thereafter I adjusted the shutter speed until I got the desired detail in the foreground via the EVF view. The eye of course has a greater dynamic range than the sensor. HDR is always possible but that tends to flatten contrast and I wanted contrast. ISO was 125, it was dim and I wanted to minimise noise. The shot was handheld so I wanted a fast shutter speed at 1/1600Equipment
My Olympus XZ-1 camera with a detachable Electronic Viewfinder, I always carry it with me, especially on long mountain walks where weight and climate factors can be an issue. This camera has an f1.8 zoom lens which was an important consideration during purchase. It also has a variety of Modes and Manual setting. Most important of all for me, it takes pictures in RAW.Inspiration
My inspiration was the wall which spoke to me of habitation in times gone by. History is always an inspiration; here because of the nature of the walls and the difficulty of building in that steep location and living there. Then there is the obvious degradation of the building and the eventual growth of the tree which shows the power of nature to recover from human influence. I love the green of the trees, algae and ferns, all of it.Editing
I used Photoshop 6 to post process the RAW file which included reducing noise in the dark areas and lightening of the shadows and slight reduction of the highlights. Post processing for me is no different in concept to dodging and burning a film photograph. It is personal and I prefer my own photos to be realistic. I am happy that I captured the mood in my image which is what I experienced at the scene.In my camera bag
If I am walking on the mountains then it is normally just my tried and trusted Olympus XZ-1 camera plus detachable electronic viewfinder. Occasionally in the mountains where more adaptability is required, or for any other purpose, I carry my Olympus OMD EM1 which is a micro four/thirds mirror-less camera. I have a variety of lenses some of which are a legacy from my previous four thirds camera used with an adapter. I have recently bought a wide angle Micro four/thirds lens 9-18mm which because of the sensor crop value of 2 is actually 18-36mm. I have given up thinking about crop values, just give me a lens for the range or purpose that I want. The camera operates the four/thirds lenses with Phase autofocus and the Micro four/thirds lenses with contrast autofocus which is much faster. Great camera. I also carry a tripod and cleaning pens. I use a BlackRapid sling strap to carry my camera which allows much greater freedom of movement, comfort and accessibility during use.Feedback
If you want to take photos such as this then walk in the forests or your local park and let nature inspire you. Just be instinctive about what you like. Concentrate on framing your subject properly to emphasise it and think about what is important to you. For instance, as previously discussed, for me the contrast was important and the subject was the walls and tree.
