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Dawn on the slopes of Moel Famau, my local hill in North Wales, is a wonderful time. In spring especially there is so much activity and birdsong as the sun comes up that your spirits can't help but be lifted just by being there.
As the sun climbs in the sky there's a pine covered slope that gradually catches the light. First of all just the tops of the trees glow golden, then the light slowly spreads down the trunks until everything is lit, but by then the light has taken on a much more harsh quality as the sun is quite high in the sky at that point.
I find that the best time of all is when the trees are half lit, with the bottoms of the trunks still in shadow and the tops being flooded with that wonderful golden light.
I've taken many photos in such conditions from the standard 'look straight ahead' viewing angle, but on this occasion I tried looking up instead and was able to come up with a different take on a familiar and much loved scene.
Filename - trees 05.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 40mm
Exposure - 0.8secs @ f11, ISO100
Location - Moel Famau, North Wales
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Tripod, mirror lockup and cable release used to prevent camera movement.
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