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The story behind this image

The beech woods of the Loggerheads Country Park, near my home in North Wales, were resplendant in their autumn finery as I enjoyed an afternoon's hiking and photography though this beautiful landscape.

The day was typically autumn, with a dull, overcast sky providing the ideal flat, contrastless lighting that allowed those rich, warm colours to shine through with maximum effect in this image.

Walking along the path, I was taken by this arrangement of branches, hanging down at an angle from a large tree while touching the carpet of fallen leaves at their tips.

The black branches stood out in stark contrast to the glowing canopy above, making for a strong, dynamic composition for this photo, bounded by the carpet of leaves at the bottom.

I spent a few minutes adjusting the position of the camera by a few inches here and there to get the arrangement of branches how I wanted them before pressing the shutter and carrying on my way, happy as a pig in muck surrounded by so much beauty.