Between the lines

So grab your camera and start reading between the lines! What will you find when you are thinking through your lens? Kim’s weekly photo challenge

I’ve been away up in the Cairngorms this week birding, or something like that. We did see lots of little birds and heard more, but they moved so quickly that I didn’t get many photos. But I must have had Kim’s challenge at the back of my mind because I did take a lot of pictures of what I called “framing” shots.Here’s one of the huge “granny” pines in Abernethy woods. I was fascinated by the cracks and crevices in the pine and used it to frame the younger trees behind it, which themselves create frames of forest and sky.

These next two form a huge contrast for me. The first is an attempt at a pine forest by landowners who did not understand that trees need space to grow. Look how spindly the trunks of the trees are – like matchsticks and probably only fit for use as kindling. Not much going on between the lines there.

By contrast look at this pine forest. Also managed, but this time by the RSPB. See how the trunks have space to grow.* I love this shot – see how the trees frame Loch Garten in the background and the scenery beyond it. 

* There’s an obvious metaphor here that I’ll return to in a later post.

On Friday we drove up to the coast and stopped at a bird hide outside Findhorn. Inside was dark and cold:

Outside was glorious sunshine. I tried to frame the sun through the windows of the hide, but you don’t really get the contrast I don’t think. Here’s the view when I poked my camera through the window.

We drove home today through stunning scenery, and stopped to admire the view. I love all of the different colours in this – from the snow on the mountains to the purple of N’s aran jumper, made by me (of course).