Other Photography: Trees & Hedges

Following on with the Other Photography pages rewritten from my defunct website, the above photo was taken on a winter afternoon as the sun began to dip and the moon was visible in the sky. It was bitterly cold with frost on the ground and the ditches were full of thick ice, but great for a brisk walk when I went to take photos of a water treatment plant at Colyford in Devon. The light was perfect and I took a few general landscape and tree photos on the walk back. I think the tree is an English Elm, but please don't quote me on that as English Elms were almost wiped out by the Dutch Elm disease but there are a few remaining, and this one has the look of an Elm shape.

Near to this little farm lane was a gate with three sheep behind it watching me with interest. It was a perfect photo opportunity, but unfortunately as soon as I lifted up my camera they scarpered!

These two pine trees were in Honiton, Devon, when I took the photos way back in 1991. Sadly one had disappeared when I revisited several years ago. I'm not sure what kind of pine they are. Checking my tree books I think - and again, please don't quote me - that they're Maritime Pines. I'm not very well up on pines!

The photos were taken with b&w film, at a time when I had access to a darkroom, and I developed and printed them myself. This particular method is something that I devised by disengaging the negative carrier after positioning in the enlarger, which produces a crinkly, undefined edge to the image in the centre of the print.  

After University, and what's misguidedly (in my opinion, lol) called 'real life' sets in, I had a break from art and creative photography for several years. However, these two photos were part of a day that saved me from that and brought me back to what I really needed to be doing. I don't know why, but I suddenly had an urge to go out after a rainfall to take photos of the raindrops on the trees, which sparked me off in a different direction.

The tree above is one of several Silver Birch near my home. I'm not sure what the one below is. I think it might be a beech, but it was in a hedge! ;) 

Hedges have always been fascinating to me and I can't go on a walk without stopping to look in one and discover the wild flowers and beasties inside. When my son was little I took him on lots of walks in his pushchair and introduced him to hedges. One day I found a fantastic large beetle, and without thinking I gave it to him to hold. Unfortunately it backfired - he screamed - and as an adult is still very unhappy about insects to this day! 

The photo above is of a Blackthorn with incredibly long and sharp thorns, which makes it very useful for hedging. It's the first tree to blossom in the Spring.

Another hedge, above, smothered in the beautiful British wild rose called Dog Rose, which flowers in late May and June. I originally took the photo as part of a reference collection when I was an illustrator. They weren't sharp or close enough to use as reference material, but I like the way that the accidental softness works well for these pretty and delicate flowers.

Outside my home is this gorgeous Cherry tree. It's the first to flower amongst several in the Close where I live and I love taking close-ups of the flowers and individual branches. Or at least I loved to be able to, as it's now grown so tall that I can't reach high enough to take close-ups. It wonderfully fills my bedroom window view though, which is lovely whatever the time of year.

I have no idea what these next trees are. They are quite small and have curly corkscrew branches, taken on a sunny winter's day in January 2007 after my explore of Racal Electronics. The only other tree I know that's similar is the Corkscrew Hazel, but they aren't it. Oak trees look all zigzaggy and corkscrewish in the winter too, but these are in small patches of earth between the paving stones of a road pavement, so they're unlikely to be something that eventually grows so large. Mind, they make great shapes against the sky. :)

Another spring photo following winter, the one below is an English Oak...looking all zigzaggy and corkscrewish! ;)

I loved the look of it against the sky with the pinky new growth on it's zig-zag branches. I meant to take photos of it during other seasons, but after forgetting for several years I finally had a walk up the lane during summer a few years ago and took the photo below. 

Some more of the photos taken in the lane during that walk. The hedges were white with hedge parsley, stitchwort and white dead-nettle flowers. I deliberately softened these - as the photos looked too sharp and bitty once scanned - which fits in rather nicely with the sleepy hot summer's day in a quiet lane with nothing but the sound of buzzing bees and other insects.

The high hedges are called Devon Banks, whereby banks of earth reinforced with stones are topped with a woven hedge, which continues to grow and supports a myriad of wildlife; wild flowers, birds, insects, invertebrates, mosses and small animals such as field mice, hedgehogs, etc.

Someone once told me that when he first came to live in Devon he was shocked to see bluebells growing up through the hedges which apparently made them several feet high! It wasn't until later that he learnt about the bank system, which can't always be seen once grown over.  

 

At first glance the tree below looks as if it has a twisty trunk, but it's actually just the shadows which make it look that way. Another one seen on the same walk as the lane photos.  

Not so much a hedge, below, but an ivy clambering up a fence and towering above it. I really liked the silhouette against the sky.

On another sunny winter's day two years ago, one of the lovely birch trees in the close where I live.

And to finish off, two of a magnificent Monterey Cedar at the edge of the field next door, which I often take photos of from my balcony. It's almost impossible to get all of it in one photo, although it can be done using portrait rather than landscape view. However, the one directly below had the added advantage of a wood pigeon flying towards it. The last photo using a telephoto lens is a personal favourite due to the slightly misty look of the black & white film plus the textures of the brances and the roof tiles.

And there we go! Just a selection of my best and favourite tree and hedge photos. Did I mention how much I love trees? ;) 

Another Other Photography article will be added after some more of the usual subjects. :)