This is another photo which I took on my way to work, being initially attracted to the sunlight which was catching the brown needles around the bottom of the group of trees.

Then I noticed the texture of the bark, so started taking some shots of that.  Then I decided I liked the way that the tree swept upwards, then I took this picture.

I am not sure if the low-ish early morning sun is a good or a bad thing – it does bleach out some of the tree, but it does a good job of hiding the industrial estate.  So, from a compositional point of view there are quite a lot of features, but it could benefit from the sun being behind the tree completely (I did try this, but then lost the second tree and a lot of the interest.

This was taken with my Canon Powershot S90, ISO80, 1/50secs, f/4.0, 6mm.

Tree Bark

I had another of those what to take moments on Boxing Day.  We went for a walk at Kedleston in Derbyshire, the sun was shining, there was still some snow on the ground, the landscape was rolling, etc etc.  I took some of the obligatory shots of the dales, and of the light coming through the trees, but, to me,  it did not capture the essence of a walk in the woods.

This picture was closer to it.  I think that the trees are individual and worth taking photos of in their own right, the leaves, the bark, even the bits left after they have fallen and are decaying with other flora and fauna making them home.  I have no idea what type of tree this is, but the sun caught the bark and made it sparkle, just as I was walking past.  The swirling patterns really caught my attention and made me stop.  My companions carried on oblivious.

This was snapped with my Canon Ixus, 5.8mm, f/2.8, ISO 200, 1/100 secs.