Autumn in Belvoir Forest R

A tree in Belvoir Forest Park, Belfast, on a sunny autumn day in November 2007. I have visited this tree dozens of times and captured it in every season from almost every angle. It also features in my gallery, dozens of times. I never tire of returning to see this tree.

This shot must have been taken on one of my first visits to Belvoir Forest. Back then, I was quite new to photography, and I always regarded it as one of my best shots at the time (so much so that I got it printed on canvas and is hanging on the wall). I was also impressed that it was shown on local TV and on the BBC website.

Since then, I think I have learned a lot about photography. Sometimes little by little, and sometimes one of those "lightbulb" moments, when you make progress. It's a cliché, but the more I learn about photography, the more I realise I don't know.

Recently I realised all my shots appeared a bit soft and dark or contrasty. Once I "fixed up" a few, I realised, even if the photo wasn't perfect, I could at least make the final image better. Unfortunately for me, this led me to revise my entire gallery of around 300 deviations over the past couple of months! This shot marks the end of my "first pass" though the gallery. I hope the revision of this shot is an improvement, although I don't doubt that some will still prefer the original:



I'm looking forward to photographing this tree in its autumn colours over the next few months.

Below is my current favourite shot of this tree:


Best viewed at full size.