Amongst my other 'interests' I'm intrigued by patterns in nature, and particularly those that are created by an 'event' such as our recent spell of arctic weather and record snowfalls.
The big snows brought down numerous trees in our local woodland and after the thaw began the woodland floor told the story of the destruction.
This was a small vignette I came across, after much wandering and peering, comprising broken branches and other woodland detritus.
Yes the two black beech blobs lower left are a bit intrusive, and yes I could either have lifted them out of the picture manually OR used the Photoshop sleight of hand, but then if I was going that far I might as well have moved the twigs and added a few more at a well-considered jaunty angle to create letters that would spell something profound. But then that would be MY story not the woodland's, if you follow me, and I'm happy with what the woodland said.
I think you need to draw the line somewhere! And I was happy with it as it was. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but quite rewarding for me when I found it.
Canon G9, 1/500 @ f4, ISO 200, fill-flash, hand held.
I've looked at this image numerous times now and it reveals more of itself with each view - a great quality for any picture to have. I'm increasingly attracted to images that explore and present 'signs of nature' - the essence of what has occurred and the traces that remain to tell the story. These images are not easy to produce but when they work (as yours does here) they are interesting and intriguing.
Well seen and executed.
Cheers,
Chris
Posted by John Chapman on January 25, 2010 at 4:59 AM
Hi John, not my cup of tea, but everybody to their own.
Glad this image is striking a chord with many of you. The inspiration for this was actually poetry. I'm rather fond of environmental poetry, and find it interesting how incredibly acute is the observational power of some poets. We photographers can learn a lot from them.
We are often exhorted to consider the work of painters to inspire our photography, but to be honest I've found poetry to be far more invigorating in this regard, as the words conjure up far more variety in my mind than the painted images ever could, and wildly differently for each of us too.
This following poem is one I really like and would say it was responsible in part for the image posted in the thread. Some of you may enjoy it.
'From March '79'
by Tomas Transtromer
Tired of all who come with words, words with no language
I went to the snow-covered island.
The wild does not have words.
The unwritten pages spread themselves out in all directions!
I come across the marks of roe-deer’s hooves in the snow.
Language with no words.
And that concludes this morning's cultural interlude from the highlands!
Posted by David Taylor on January 25, 2010 at 2:03 PM
Reminds me of characters from a Runic alphabet. Fine for me just as it is, the beech 'blobs'
add a touch of incongruity which I feel adds to the picture rather than detracts.
Posted by Marcus Conway on January 25, 2010 at 3:28 PM
I find something new in this shot every time I look at it.
Great eye for a shot
Posted by Guy Rogers on January 26, 2010 at 11:57 AM
Hello John.
I find this to be a very interesting image and some thing I probably wouldn't have seen.
It is well balanced and thought out and thanks for posting this its nice to see what other people see and I miss.
Discussion
13 repliesThe big snows brought down numerous trees in our local woodland and after the thaw began the woodland floor told the story of the destruction.
This was a small vignette I came across, after much wandering and peering, comprising broken branches and other woodland detritus.
Yes the two black beech blobs lower left are a bit intrusive, and yes I could either have lifted them out of the picture manually OR used the Photoshop sleight of hand, but then if I was going that far I might as well have moved the twigs and added a few more at a well-considered jaunty angle to create letters that would spell something profound. But then that would be MY story not the woodland's, if you follow me, and I'm happy with what the woodland said.
I think you need to draw the line somewhere! And I was happy with it as it was. Perhaps not everyone's cup of tea, but quite rewarding for me when I found it.
Canon G9, 1/500 @ f4, ISO 200, fill-flash, hand held.
Love it,simple but very effective!!
Craig
www.craigchurchill.co.uk
Looks like one of those things you fill in when joining a site !
Cheers
John
liam
Paul
www.paulhobson.co.uk
Mark
I've looked at this image numerous times now and it reveals more of itself with each view - a great quality for any picture to have. I'm increasingly attracted to images that explore and present 'signs of nature' - the essence of what has occurred and the traces that remain to tell the story. These images are not easy to produce but when they work (as yours does here) they are interesting and intriguing.
Well seen and executed.
Cheers,
Chris
We are often exhorted to consider the work of painters to inspire our photography, but to be honest I've found poetry to be far more invigorating in this regard, as the words conjure up far more variety in my mind than the painted images ever could, and wildly differently for each of us too.
This following poem is one I really like and would say it was responsible in part for the image posted in the thread. Some of you may enjoy it.
'From March '79'
by Tomas Transtromer
Tired of all who come with words, words with no language
I went to the snow-covered island.
The wild does not have words.
The unwritten pages spread themselves out in all directions!
I come across the marks of roe-deer’s hooves in the snow.
Language with no words.
add a touch of incongruity which I feel adds to the picture rather than detracts.
Great eye for a shot
I find this to be a very interesting image and some thing I probably wouldn't have seen.
It is well balanced and thought out and thanks for posting this its nice to see what other people see and I miss.