Brown Moss - a new photographic subject!

So Brown Moss Country Heritage Site - not brown moss, the small brown bryophyte (that’s the scientific name for mosses) was first on my list to visit in Shropshire - mainly as it is less than 15 minutes from me and the website promised me ‘A perfect place to unwind and relax with an amazing array of plants and wildlife’

In amongst the rain showers or torrential downpours that have characterised December and so far January there was a bright gap! I siezed the opportunity and leapt in the car. After following a dubious looking pathway I arrived at the car park which is basically just a space between some trees. The serenity hits you as soon as you exit the door of the car, lots of coots on a mirror like lake which was clearly much larger than it should be due to the excessive rain, noone in sight and just some beautiful countryside to walk around. There were birches, other trees of fabulous shapes, macro fodder and free grazing cattle (which hid from me). Anyway, time to stop rambling and talk photography and what Multiple Exposure opportunities presented themselves!

Above you can see a multiple of birch trees which I am really pleased with. I wanted to capture the orange at the foot of these glorious trees so I layered 5 images, lining up the trees so as to keep their shape. I then added a layer of texture because, well, let’s be honest, I like to add a bit to most images!

The two images below show different scenes. The left image is a single image in camera (maybe it wasn’t quite mirror like - there are ripples!) combined with a texture. The one on the right is because I saw that lovely orange and as it was in the distance I never did ascertain if it was red dogwood or not! I do like the water birds you can just spot on the right hand side. This was 3 images that I didn’t align and a texture.

The trees at Brown Moss were quite exceptional and so the top 3 were taken before sunset and I just loved the shapes of some of them so I went to town on making sure that I took enough images from enough different angles to get the right images for some playing with on my return. Sometimes I do some in camera multiple exposures but as my camera does not save the raw files this way, I wanted to take as much of this place home with me as possible so I didn’t do any. This may be something I go back to do later.

So, the top images: The left is single image with a texture, as is the tree on the right. The one in the middle is a double exposure of leaves on the ground and a tree in the distance (with a really subtle texture) I just think that all 3 have a very different feel because of the way they have been processed and this in turn leads to being able to show the different emotions of being somewhere new.

Below is the sunset (and blue hour) tree images. The ‘dancing’ tree in the left image is 3 images, not aligned combined in photoshop, the middle an image with just a subtle texture for a blend mode that made the tree stand out that little bit more. The right image is a triple exposure of branches on the same tree - this one was planned!!

Then I got closer, cos that’s what I do - big picture then smaller and smaller…. The left image above was 2 images unaligned and a funky texture. The right is one in focus one out of focus, it’s not my favourite I have taken with this technique but I do like the colours.

Lastly below is a real play with some water plants and their reflections (although it was so flooded they could have been grasses!!) This is one image, virtually copied twice and all 3 arranged with (you’ve guessed it!) a texture over the top. I really enjoyed making this one as the creative process is very grounding for me.

Maybe go to your local woodland and try some of these techniques, it really makes you look in a very different way at your surroundings.