How To Photograph Tree Lines

Trees are always popular photographic subject for various reasons: they don't talk back, they're fairly still and at this time of year the colours are particularly spectacular. Mix these up with the fact that many stand in almost symmetrical lines and you have the ingredients for a great photograph.

Gear Suggestions:

Your telephoto lens is perfect when you're heading out in search of long lines of trees as it makes them appear as if they're stretching into the distance for what seems like miles and miles. A tripod's handy but not always necessary, particularly if you're just going for a short walk in your park and you don't want to be lugging lots of equipment.

Technique:

Dense wooded areas can make interesting patterns when shot straight on. Just watch your exposure as it can be a little dark. As a result, you may need slightly longer shutter speeds and for this you will need to carry your tripod.

Venture to your park and take a walk around the paths and you're sure to find trees at either side of you. If you have a particularly long row of trees where the canopy stretches over the path, try standing at one end and use your telephoto lens to exaggerate the length of the lines. If the canopy is rather thick you may need longer exposure times. Just watch out for blurred leaves if you do opt to use them as anything that moves will be blurred in the final shot.

An empty path dusted with autumn leaves surrounded by two lines of trees looks great but make the most of the long lines and use them to guide the eye through the image to an object at the other side. In a park this could be a museum, bench, a statue or even someone walking their dog.

If you want to learn more about photography during the autumn season Steve Gosling will be holding an OM-D Event titled: 'Autumn Colours' on Monday 5 November 2012 at Bolton Abbey. The course is priced at £50 (normally £99) and more information can be found here: 'Autumn Colours' workshop.

If you have a misty/foggy day use the weather conditions to bring a bit of mystery to the shot, hiding what's at the end of the path of trees. Try experimenting with slow shutter speeds too as you can turn the fog into a smooth river that circles the trees. This effect will work really well when the trees have shred all of their leaves leaving the skeleton of branches behind.

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