There is a park in my neighbourhood, the Beatrixpark, which I have rediscovered lately. I didn’t visit it very often, it think because it seems to be lacking a real identity. It is not a proper forest, but there are some patches of woodland. The park has some artificial neat parts with a pond and a meadow, but also some parts where nature seem to be left to its own devices. The image of a large playing area had stuck to my mind, preventing me from going back. But lately I seem to be finding some magical places there…

When I saw this group of trees near a large pond I decided it was a good place to hang out for a while. I enjoy spending some time at the same location, finding different angles or waiting for the best light. I enjoyed it so much that I went back a couple of days later. The black and white picture above was made during my first visit. I liked the shape of the branches, but it was only when I was at home editing the photos that I noticed the nice contrast between the branches and the leaves. This type of tree has a lot of small oblong leaves, giving a cloud-like texture when slightly out of focus (yeah for small depths of field!).

Below you see the same leaves, but from this close they have a different vibe.

Because I liked the cloud-photo so much I returned to the same spot, but this time early in the morning hoping to take advantage of the golden hour (by the time I got out of bed golden hour was just over, but anyway… 😉 ). Of course the top photo is still my favourite, always when I try to improve on some specific photo it ends up being worse…, but the morning light presented other opportunities. Here you see the same group of trees from a different angle with some sunlight in the back.

The next two photos clearly show the difference between the golden hour (left) and the light of an overcast almost-midday.

Just a couple more photos to show the magic of this place, found in the trees but also on the ground. The cow parsley (at least I think that’s what it’s called) looks special in the right kind of morning light (and a bit of help from the Tele-Elmarit’s depth of field)

Thanks for reading!