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Strolling slowly back down the slopes of my local hill, Moel Famau, after a great morning's photography I found that the opportunities for taking images weren't quite over yet.
This lone tree, with a low winter's sun behind, caught my eye and so I stopped to take a series of photos, wanting to capture the tree in silhouette with the sun emerging as a starburst through the branches.
My first shots were tightly composed on the tree iteself, but then I noticed the elegant swirl of cirrus cloud seeming to emerge from the base of the tree, so I widened my composition to include it.
This is a technique I often use. Once I've taken the obvious photo I take a second look to see how I might add more interest or improve the composition somehow.
It's amazing how often I find that I've missed something in the first rush to actually press the shutter, and a bit of thought once the initial excitement has died down usually pays dividends.
Filename - tree sun cloud 01.jpg
Camera - Canon EOS 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 47mm
Exposure - 1/160sec @ f22, ISO100
Location - Moel Famau, North Wales
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Small aperture used to enhance starburst effect.
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