December 2020 - The Tree

Richmond Park. What a lovely place, and right on my doorstep. And the Isabella Plantation is one of the loveliest parts of it. This is a small, fenced in, area of woods, plants, ponds and streams which is quiet and peaceful at all seasons of the year. 

And on the walk from the Broomfield car park down to the Isabella, and on your right, is this huge, beautifully shaped tree. I have often tried to photograph it but have had a 100% failure rate in producing an image that properly illustrates the gorgeousness of the tree. 

But on this day, late December, there were obviously no leaves, and there was also a lovely bright sunny day. I have tried to give some idea of the grandeur of the tree, the wide spread of its branches, the colour and the overall shape of the tree. I think it works – not a great competition photo – but certainly one that works for me. I like the way that the branches spread out so much with the blue sky and some clouds behind to highlight these branches. I feel that there is a sense of explosion from the centre of the trunk, which I had not expected.

A lesson for photographers everywhere is that we should never give up hope that we will be able to make a good photograph even when we have failed so often … maybe one day I will get a brilliant photo of a tree that I can show off to photographer judges.