“Midwinter and February’s golds bring colour and gladness to the otherwise stark forest.” – Ed Lehming

I’m continuing with this series of ‘painterly’ photos, which due to the environment I’ve been immersed in lately, have taken a shift to more of an orange and purple palette.

For a change of pace, I decided to return to a trial system that I have not been on for a few years, making it familiar yet refreshing at the same time. This particular tract has far more beech trees than I recall from previous visits and I have to admit that I did not spend much time on these trails in the winter because they tend to e quite busy with cross-country skiers and dog walkers. I was considering my regular haunt but when I saw the trailhead relatively deserted, I decided to take my chances.

The late morning, winter light was wonderful and my hike yielded a lot of good images, some of which I transformed and others which I will post over the coming days in their original format.

There was a second reason for this excursion, other than simply needing to get outside after a few days. I just acquired a new 24-70 mm f/2.4 lens that I was eager to take through its paces. More on that in future posts.

As I said earlier on, this forest is filled with beautiful beech groves, interspersed between pines. With the sunlight low in the sky, the beeches seem like flames between the pines and stand out so nicely in the snowy winter landscape, as I think shows up rather nicely on this image.

iPhone 12 Pro @ 4.2 mm
1/2450 sec, f/1.6, ISO 32