A Quick Mid-day Visit to Holme Fen

I slept in on this Sunday morning and probably missed the best of the fog. By mid-day there was still some fog around the house and I had the chance to venture out for a couple of hours. I drove down to Holme Fen if only because I hadn’t been there the longest.  When I arrived there were lots of parked cars; more than I have ever seen before. The weather was dry so I can hardly blame them. I went out to the eastern-most coverts as I haven’t been to then in a while and the forest opens up in a few areas so I might exploit the fog there better. 

By the time I got out the fog seemed to be slacking and didn’t provide as much mood as I had hoped. The autumn was moving on and many of the silver birch leaves were turning from yellow-green to a more orange brown color.  Gone now is the tyranny of green; to such an extent the eye thirsts for fresh green growth amongst the mostly brown bracken and naked tree limbs. The oaks however hold onto their leaves; for now at least.

I pass the hide and look over the water and walk the shore to see if I can find anything interesting. There is interesting tree branch over the water festooned with yellow leaves. This seems to be a kind of theme with me so I go with it. I have to set the tripod right down low near the water’s edge and I am in danger of sliding into the after. I setup with the 150mm lens and a sheet of Astia. The focus will be difficult with the lens close-up the leaves somewhat further and then the water and back ground. The brightness of the sky may stretch the range of the film as well. To add to the fun I include a polarizer. II don’t have a lot of hopes for this picture but we’ll see soon enough. 

Image Review

This is a lousy image. The leaves are  out of focus either because the depth of field cannot manage the focus on the branch at the same time or due t a breeze during the 4 seconds the shutter was open. The composition would have benefitted from raising the front standard about a third of the image. This would cut out the blank space of the pond surface on the lower half of the image and included more of the branch so a connection is made between the branch and leaves. As i write  this I become convinced this is what I saw on the ground glass and now wonder if the camera shifted in some way before the shutter opened. I was sat precariously on the edge of the pond on a steep slope...

 Silver Birch over Pond 4x5 150mm Astia f45 4"

I walk a large circle now around the forest. There is not much to inspire me. The day is pleasant enough but the conditions are flat; I don’t  feel like I have the pace to myself now as I do in the very early mornings so I feel distracted. Down by the water someone approached asking if I was fishing and I was startled by a couple of dogs off their leads. 

I find a colorful tree next to a green lichen covered barren bush. There is a nice range of colors to be had here so I use the SINAR Zoom film back to take a 6x12 slice of this color on Fuji Provia slide film.

Image Review

In general this is a good image but not great. I don't have any major complaints. I also can't rave about it.

Birch plus Lichen Bush 150mm Provia f22 1/2 4 seconds polarizer

I walk further and realize I have to be home soon. I am torn between different attractions. One birch is of the type with dark crusty bark not white and smooth. This makes a nice contrast as it stands out well against the lighter yellow leaves so the form of the tree is more apparent. I can’t find an good composition of this. 

A high oak though the light fog attracts my attention. Very few trees stay vertical long in this soft peat soil. The oak is no exception and has a graceful lean to it. It is bracketed with yellow-orange silver birch and white birch log lies in the foreground to literally underscore the scene. I make a few different exposures. First on Provia color slide film I take a 6x12 and then a 6x9 which should fit on the end of the roll.  The oak is centered so either width works. I then load up my 6x9 MPP film holder and take two 6x9 black and white images on Ilford FP4+ metered at ISO 80. (The black and white version will be posted later.)

Image Review

I like these images and prefer the first. The framing birches help as does the range of color an visual interest in the foreground. The images are a little under exposed which shows up as color grain in the shadows. The polarizer did increase saturation as I applied much less saturation to the first image compared to the second.

Leaning Oak 150mm 6x12 Provia f16 2/3 1/4" polarizer

Leaning Oak 150mm 6x9 Provia f22 1/4" no polarizer

After this it was definitely time to leave for home.