Collaborative Practice Day 6

I decide to continue the work conceived during my collaborative work with Katie to develop the photographic ideas further.  As far as Skye is concerned it feels like the “dog days” of autumn in terms of the vibrant colours, and so I am keen to squeeze out the last photographic opportunities of the season.  I am conscious that I will not have another chance to capture these impressions as I will have submitted my thesis and handmade book by this time next year.  It is scary even writing these words. . .

I return to the lone silver birch tree where I had some success a couple of days ago.  It is a bright and clear day with blue skies and fluffy white clouds.  The leaves at the top of the tree’s canopy are glistening in the sunshine as I work with multiple exposure and intentional camera movement to capture the intensity of the colours.  I fear that if the predicted gales and bad weather materialise then the fragile leaves of the birch will be shed completely.  I enjoy playing with the camera and combining the ghostly images of the tree to create more intense colours and semi-abstract imagery.   While working on the north side of the tree the silhouette of the tree is manifest and the colours almost turn to monochrome, while from the east the colours are at their most intense.

These images capture the vibrant colours and gentle movement of the tree’s fragile and decaying leaves, although, for the moment, they are shining bright and proud, particularly at the top of the canopy.  I spend about an hour and a half in the company of the silver birch.  In that time, it exudes autumn through its trunk and every bough, branch and leaf of its Being.  We share a moment of anticipation of what is to come for the tree.  The season’s will change in the next few days as the inevitable wet and windy weather envelops the Island.   I will return to share those moments, hours, days and weeks as autumn sinks into winter . . .