And Today's Winner is…… - a photo on Flickriver

            We're an agreeable little gang really. All about encouragement and positivity you know. None of us shamelessly trying to outscore the others or anything underhand like that.  Although sometimes, but not always, there's a kind of unspoken competition going on. It's never announced that there even was a contest taking place until after the event, and there's no official judging panel. What tends to happen is that the other two look at the back of your camera, coo in grudging appreciation and say something such as, “yes, you've won that one.” No big prize giving ceremony - no brand ambassadorship or gift wrapped set of brand new magnetic filters, no silverware, nor even a bottle of fizz.  Chances are the award will have been entirely forgotten later or the winning image cancelled by a late entrant that was stolen from the gods at last light.  As accolades go in our world, being told you've won that one is about as good as it gets. 

This afternoon we were crashing around  beneath the canopy in the woods at the edge of the moor, exploring the network of small tracks that led away from the main path, seeking out lone forest oddities, the ones that somehow stood out from the surrounding pack. In deepest February only the firs and spruces held their foliage, while the rest stood spartan and unadorned, save for the creeping strangulation of ivy tendrils and thick coats of green moss that spread across the bark and protected it from winter’s advance.  Ferns hung from huge Ent faces in bearded tresses. And all was silent here beneath the forest roof.  Except for the inane twittering of three middle aged men with cameras, who could be surprisingly noisy at times.

This fine beast of the forest was just waiting to be discovered.  A soaring tower of sprawling green limbs, all knobbled and gnarled, trapped within a nest of bare twigs waiting for spring to arrive and dress them with new life.  It seemed as if at any moment it might uproot itself and march across the glade in our direction, waving multiple arms in fury and driving us from the forest so it could continue its winter slumbers in peace.  A perfect subject for the long end of the telephoto lens to pick out the elements that caught the eye and frame them against the dark forest background.  It seemed that I was the only one who spotted it.  But then again, I was the only one who was looking through the viewfinder at more than three hundred millimetres.  With a wider lens, the Ent might have been lost in the forest confusion.  There were a number of equally characterful specimens to be found here in the forest, but this one had the added attraction of offering a shot with a complete absence of distracting sky poking through holes in the canopy behind. 

When you're rewarded with the honour of “today's winner” by your comrades, the standard response is to rebut the unwarranted praise in favour of one of their efforts with a vaguely plausible level of self denial, before reluctantly accepting the news with no small degree of sanguine modesty.  Maybe a shrug in a “how did that happen?” sort of way. It simply wouldn't do to go racing through the cover, arms aloft and singing “We are the Champions,” at the top of your voice.  Not cricket at all you know.  I tried to remember this and merely nodded and allowed myself a quiet grin as the Tolkienesque forest guardian was unanimously acknowledged to be today's winner.

Taken in: UK / England / West Devon District / Dousland (show map)

Taken on: February 4, 2024

Tags:

Dartmoor

Devon

Ent

Treebeard

trees

tree

forest

Woodland

woods

wood

woodland photography

Great Britain

Britain

England

West Country

west country clickers

Canon

Canon 100-400 Mk2

winter

February

dark

eerie

strange

telephoto « less

Sets appears in: • Dartmoor Winter Trip 2024 • Dartmoor

Groups appears in: • Woods & Forests • South West England more » • Natural Landscape & Wildlife Photos • The Intimate Landscape • Flickr Social • Trees UK « less

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, f/5.6, 1/5 sec, 330mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Lens:	EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM
Aperture:	f/5.6
Exposure Time:	0.2 sec (1/5)
Focal Length:	330mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	-2 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 13.5.1 (Macintosh)
Show full info

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