Forest of Ferns Beckoning

The child in me is energised when coming across a scene such as this. Thoughts of Lothlórien, the forest of the elves from Lord of the Rings, were present as I wondered how far I could venture before adders got me.

The thing that caught my eye

In this photograph, a forest floor covered in ferns leads your eye up through the image to an avenue of red tree trunks.

Mostly the ferms are green, but some have started to change colour and decay.

In the foreground, a smattering of fine beech tree branches and leaves frame the top of the picture and lead your eyes back towards the avenue of trees that face into the distance.

Why ‘Beckoning’

In this wood, on this day, the compositions I kept seeing were ones where the word ‘beckoning.’ was foremost the first response. This avenue was the same. It spoke to me of adventure, curiosity, mystery, not knowing where the path led, but a strong desire to follow it nonetheless.

Still some challenges

I found the brightness of the sky challenging when composing this piece. The leaves from the beech tree at the top of the frame helped to diminish the level of highlights overall, but I feel perhaps it could have benefitted with an alternate sky.

If I were to make this image again, I think I would work to achieve more contrast with the sky, which would perhaps remove the need for the top framing leaves.

Tell me what you think

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In the kitbag today

• Nikon D850
• iPhone 12 mini
• AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G
• AF-S NIKKOR 16-35mm f/4G ED VR
• AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR
• Manfrotto CX190Pro4 Tripod
• Cable Shutter Release