Inspired

After a bit of shopping ready for the next holiday (!) we went to see Alan Hayward's photographic exhibition in the Queens Hall, Hexham. It's part of the Northumberland Art Tour.

It's a small exhibition of beautiful images. There are some landscapes, but most are small portions from within a landscape and some close ups from nature. We had a long chat about the work he does and I came away inspired to photograph tree bark. The image I liked best was of eucalyptus bark, full of muted browns and sea greens.

My image is from a very old apple tree in my garden. It usually fruits well, despite being hollow and I planted a clematis which climbs through and produces showers of purple flowers late in the summer.

The more I looked, the more detail I saw. I had to decide which piece of bark to photograph as which angle. Using an angle allows you to see the way the bark lifts, but with 100mm lens requires a very small aperture. The colours are not subtle but you aren't aware of the strong terracotta of the algae until you are close.

This may yet become an occasional series........