#focus-stack

First, a few conventional scenes beside the River Braan and the Black Linn waterfalls from the bridge, as one does:

A classic view of the Black Linn waterfall in the River Brann at the Hermitage in late autumn colours.

A classic view of the Black Linn waterfall in the River Brann at the Hermitage in late autumn.

Lines and points: the last few remaining leafs on a beech canopy.

A semi-abstract study: lines of tree filigree silhouetted against autumn colours.

A rock formation beside the River Braan, Hermitage, Dunkeld

A classic view of the Black Linn waterfall in the River Brann at the Hermitage in late autumn colours.

From there I explored a new direction away from the river, up through the Craigvinean woods to the Pine Cone viewpoint. The weather descended – from bright sunshine strolling through the colourful larches, it turned completely dreich grey and mist arose from the trees reducing visibility to barely 50yd. Quite spooky 🙂

Low visibility – lines in the woods – lines in the mist.

Low visibility – lines in the woods – lines in the mist.

Visibility about 30yd; walking in new woodlands among tall trees with a huge craggy hillside by the path.

Visibility about 30yd; walking in new woodlands among tall trees with a huge craggy hillside by the path.

On the way back, a particular beech tree caught my attention; with a bit of work, the 18mm prime revealed a particularly strong composition, illustrating the tree’s curving trunk. An unusual use for focus-stacking, too: it was so dark when I started the sequence, the camera was at 30s, ISO 400 even at f/2.0; by the time I finished 8 minutes layer, it was completely pitch black night.

Anthropocene influence:

A well-known waterfall (much taller than it looks in most photos) behind a packhorse bridge, Glen Lyon.

The first of three very distinct kinds of woodland in my afternoon stroll around Glen Lyon – here boring monoculture looks tolerable with the sunlit bracken in the distance.

Very natural native flora basking in the golden light:

Bright sunligt behind oak leaves turning from green to yellow to orange.

A mixture of trees, from mostly green to vibrant yellow and orange

The way the bracken curls reminds me a bit of seahorses… Here catching the bright autumn light.

A primary-colour scene: strong characterful branches of a large birch tree with yellow and green foliage against a bright blue sky.

Fragments of birch tree branches in a sea of bright yellow foliage.

An avenue of beech trees looking quite spooky

The third kind of woodland on the afternoon’s stroll was another obvious man-made arrangement, but this time an avenue of beech trees, one of which looked quite spooky waving its branches around in the only patch of sunlight.

The third kind of woodland on the afternoon’s stroll was another obvious man-made arrangement, but this time an avenue of beech trees, one of which looked quite spooky waving its branches around in the only patch of sunlight.