In this little article I want to show you three examples for woodland photos, which I took in the past two years, and talk about why those work and what to look out for when photographing forests.
Enchanted
One of the biggest challenges when photographing forests is all the chaos you usually have to deal with when composing a shot. In some forests it can be nearly impossible to find a clean scene.
One thing that helps is the knowledge that especially beech forests will have much cleaner forest floors than other forests. Especially the mixed forests we have in Germany can be quite un-photogenic.
Since beech trees are very dominant and provide a thick canopy of leaves in spring and summer, they don't allow for much undergrowth. For this reason, the forest around large beech trees usually looks very clean.
The photo below was shot in a local forest that is largely made up of very old beech trees. The only clutter on the ground is from fallen trees, which are covered in moss. Those make for great foregrounds and leading lines, if they are surrounded by a clean forest floor like here.
Rain Forest
There are times when you just don't find a clean, classical composition. But in some forests you might find interesting perspectives by looking up. Normally I keep the camera completely level when photographing forests, because I don't want obvious key-stoning effects in my photos.
But intentionally pointing the camera upwards can also help. The example below was taken in Colombia, in a very chaotic forest with a lot of undergrowth. Finding a composition that included the forest floor didn't work out. But with the fog drifting through the trees this photo works perfectly without any foreground. The inward leaning trees draw the viewer in.
Fallen
But what if there is no good light and no fog to provide such a beautiful atmosphere. The previous two photos both benefit from fog that cleans up the background be hiding more and more of the distant trees. This simplifies those scenes.
When I took the photo below there was no such atmosphere. Taking the typical forest photo just did not work. So I did the opposite to the last photo and instead of looking up, I looked down and found beautiful subjects right at my feet.
Here is a little video I shot that morning.
Absolutely stunning photos!
Thanks
Beautiful shots.
Thank you
superb and mind blowing photos 👍👍
Thanks
Wonderful photos and thanks for the tips on what to look for. I always struggle with the composure in wooded areas because they generally come out looking messy due to the undergrowth. I have probably deleted hundreds of photos for that reason alone. I'll remember these excellent tips next time I'm in a forest zone.