On a rare day of dense fog, I received a last-minute invite to Notch Hill from the odd couple Adam Gibbs and Brian Barnham.
For years we've been wishing for fog up on this hill only to be thwarted at every turn.
Not on this day.
As soon as I arrived, I knew the conditions were perfect for this image.
Having hiked the hill many times, I'd made mental notes of where the most ornate and 'characterful' trees gather their moss.
This particular tortured tree is now falling into decay and might not be around for long.
At the time of shooting, I was so fixated on my composition that I totally missed the ghoulish face trapped in the trunk of the tree.
That's one of the things I love about landscape and nature photography, those little surprises that become glaringly obvious when you study the image in the comfort of your own home.
For this image, I really wanted to make the tree stand out to give it an almost 3D appearance.
The fog made this easy but I wanted to take it to the next level by shooting with a wide aperture of f/1.8 on my 55mm lens.
It's the lens I use least often but on those rare occasions when the scene calls for it, I'm always delighted with the results.
I hope you are too.
Thanks for reading.
Gavin
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