The same wonder, daily. For the greater part of a year, I would pause on my walk each day to photograph the same tree. Since that tree resides at the entrance to the field that sits behind my house it might be more accurate to describe that pause a false start, for barely had any walking begun than we were at a standstill. I shared the walk with Bo, our beloved family dog. She would grow accustomed to winning her freedom each day only to have her owner bring that liberation immediately into disrepute as he reached for his phone to photograph that tree. That daily act, for it was every day without fail unless I was working away, provided images of a tree across the shifting patterns of season, weather front, night and day. Its form would be stripped and skeletal through the winter; light and green through the spring; heavy and yellowing into the months of autumn. Often, it would be chiaroscuro captures of the sun falling to orange or red behind the blackened outline of a trunk and branches in the foreground. I learned a lot about looking with the repeat of that same photograph. I learned much about editing my images, too: the relationship between light and dark, how the saturation of a colour-drenched sky at dusk could be pushed, how the muted and foggy palettes of winter could be carefully finessed. It was a daily challenge of my ability to see and capture something beautiful. It’s an exercise I’d recommend to anyone wanting to improve their photographic craft – shoot the same thing again and again, striving to be curious each time that you do. I’m reminded of the
Thank you, Pauline. I confess to a great ignorance of the natural world around me, and I think that I perhaps cling closer to those few familiar parts of it that I can describe and calibrate all the more for it.
Gentle wisdom, a gorgeous Sunday Snippet.
Thank you guys, I'm about to delve into yours!
Happy reading. Thank you for peeking in x
Never just a peek.
Beautiful and wise.
Thanks, Andrew. Less laughs than Morecambe and Wise, but a catchy pairing nonetheless!
Thought provoking and delightful prose Matt. I measure the months of the year by the trees in our garden and the Arboretum beyond.
Nature at her best. 💚
Thank you, Pauline. I confess to a great ignorance of the natural world around me, and I think that I perhaps cling closer to those few familiar parts of it that I can describe and calibrate all the more for it.
Such beautiful words, as ever. Making me more observant of a magnificent tree outside my house
Thank you, Christine, for all of your kind and careful reading here. I'm hoping we might one day see you publishing here on Substack, too?
Any day now. Been out of action recently as recovering from minor op and now have a commissioned feature to write. Substack next on list
That's good to read, and I hope your recovery is swift. Looking forward to reading you again in the near future.
“Trees are so often our elders…”
What a powerful message. Beautiful.
Thanks so much, Sabrina.