Take me to the Woods
The last week of Season 2 on @photogames is when the photo stars, who hosted these season, are playing against each other. And the second theme is titled PRESENT.
Camera: LG Electronics LG-H850
Focal Length: 1.5
Aperture: F2.4
Exposure: 1/120 sec
ISO: 50
NOW...
...we live in Zielona Gora. The forests surround this city. Can you imagine, woods cover 50% of the city? I have never been in the forests as often as I was at the last 1.5 years. The woods are everywhere. They are near the school, where my son used to go. So, often when I rode him to school, I just walked nearby. And I made some of my favorite shots there. The woods are near the place, where my kids have their art and dance classes. So, I can propose my youngest son to search the squirrels, and in 10 minutes we are between the trees. I can walk out of my home an in 5 minutes I am in the forest.
It is my new reality, and as a landscape photographer, I am learning to find the points of interest in this pretty chaotic environment. I went through my archive trying to analyze what I look for, what catches my eye.
Color
Here in Zielona Gora, I understood, that my favorite season is autumn. Even though it is mostly gray, dull and raining, when the time comes it is just a feast of color!
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But the other seasons also have their perks!
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Light
Photography is about light, right? In the woods I found the most interesting light. The trees, leaves and some atmospheric condition mixed together with the sun sometimes created the light which made me hold my breath.
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Details
Forests are very chaotic. There are lots of unorganized branches, trunks, stems,leaves etc. And it is a challenge to find a focus point. That is why I like to search for some small details. It is a good exercise to get my eye in.
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Mood
Misty woods are very photogenic. The fog hides lots of the distractions and helps to reveal the main hero and create the mood. It is great to have some interesting trees nearby as well.
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But sometimes the only light and shadows work just fine.
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Textures and Patterns
The pines and creates the interesting rhythms, in the bushes we can find the abstract textures, in the young trees on the outer wood we can see the patterns. Looking for this small photo opportunities is another great exercise.
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Story
To see the story and get how to tell it with just one shot is still the hardest thing for me in photography at all. And when it happens, I am happy as a child!
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That is how I roll
The wood is a great place to be not only for a photographer. The fresh air, the singing birds, the refreshing green, and squirrels give me the chance to have an excellent company almost all the time I spend in the woods. Here is my usual behind the scene.
For these short 1.5 years in Zielona Gora, I have found some of my favorite places and have been there numerous times. But there is so much more to explore and learn!
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most of the time i struggle with photos of forests, and you are doing a great job with it.
Is Gora a forest or a hill? is i think in slovak it would be forest but in serbian it would probably be a hill :)
Thank you Marko! Gora is a mountain. And Zielona Gora is Green Mountain. But it is really an exaggeration, if you ask me. We have the several hills here. The highest one is 202 above sea level.
zelena or zelená so mix of slovak and serbian we could probably talk in Polish :) so Padina is almost a mountain at 113 :)
You must considered blessed, surrounded by all this magical landscapes every day!
Excellent shots, all of them. But my favorite , I think, is the eighth one. Just perfect.
Thanks for share them!
Yeah, it is a really nice place to live. Thank you!
Dmytro this whole set of pictures is magical. Thanks for sharing such a pretty place you get to see every day!
Thank you, Sara!
I don't know how you do this. I find trees to be terrible models ;) But now I want to try again! Thanks for the gorgeous shots!!
Дуже круто. Справді 😀😁😎☺
Дякую, Артеме!
It looks like you chose an excellent city to live in and your photography is as always marvellous!
Great shoots!