The Punch Up - a photo on Flickriver

The Punch Up

            Nigel Danson had sold it to me in a heartbeat one Sunday morning during the autumn of 2020.  In a series of three consecutive YouTube offerings he showed me a number of locations my pre-landscape eyes might not have grasped the potential for during our previous visit here sixteen years earlier.  All I'd remembered about Madeira when asked to sum it up back then was, "green" and "scenic," before adding "wet, steep, and not as warm as the Canaries."  

In the years since I started to regard this photography lark as something a bit more absorbing than a collection of holiday snaps, there has been an overlying obsession with the notion of heading north.  Iceland we've already done once and are going back again soon; Lofoten is on the agenda for the next couple of years; the notion of the Faroes is beset by misgivings about the welfare of pilot whales; and while the north of Scotland and the islands may be going on hold during the recent hike in fuel prices, it will only be by a year at most.  North was where I wanted to go for high drama and serious photography adventures, and south was where I wanted to go for languid afternoons on beaches next to an enormous bath that would never run cold.  And then Nigel reminded me I'd once been to Madeira, adding the Fanal Forest to my list of "ooh look at that - we've got to go there" places.

Fifteen months after Nigel's introduction I found myself here, wandering through a foggy UNESCO world natural heritage landscape among the shapes and forms that make up the Fanal Forest.  Attempts to provide more intelligent information on the Laurel Trees have been thwarted by my lack of patience at Google searches - so far all I can find is people telling me I could have a picnic up there on a sunny day and what my camera settings should be - the latter point being something I'd hoped to have managed to work out for myself.  Another thing is that it seems to be a popular place for people to take pictures of barefooted young ladies dressed in little more than thin white dresses posing "artfully" in juxtaposition with the trees - in fact this was the case on both of my visits despite the temperature being firmly in single figures each time.  I think it best to maintain a stoical silence on my thoughts here - suffice to say on the second visit a group of them spent longer than I'd hoped for in front of the composition I'd found.  I smiled politely and hoped what I really thought wasn't showing.  I suppose there's a reason why I don't take pictures of people and I suspect that I'm the problem, so maybe we should leave it alone to fester quietly at the sidelines.  The poor girl must have been freezing - in comparison, I was wearing four layers and a woolly hat.  Oh yes, and walking shoes with thick socks too.

This is going to be the first of quite a number of images of wonderful wonky trees that crept out of the mist and straight into my viewfinder.  Deliberately cropped to two by one format, it definitely falls into the "best viewed large" category.  In the background on the right hand side, the smaller tree is recoiling from the right hander about to be thrown at it by its neighbour.  In front of them, the character on the right has got small tree syndrome, pointing at the big one in the middle as if asking whether it spilled his pint.  In turn the big one is leaning in as if to say, "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough."  From the left hand side a bystander is racing into the scene as if to break up the fisticuffs.  And that sums up the place well - everywhere you look, the relationships between these extraordinary trees sets your imagination racing.  

Well that's what I see anyway.  I'd love to know what your interpretation is.  Hope you have a lovely weekend.

Taken in: Portugal / Madeira / Seixal / Ribeira Funda (show map)

Taken on: January 1, 2022

Tags:

Fanal

Laurel

Madeira

forest

trees

tree

treescape

fog

mist

Mono

Monochrome

Black and White

Black & White

Blanco y negro

blanc et noir

Noir et blanc

Preto e Branco

portugal « less

Sets appears in: • Book - Landscape • Mono more » • Fanal Forest • Madeira 2022 • Portugal • Trees « less

Groups appears in: • Portugal • Amateurs more » • Madeira Island - Ilha da Madeira (Portugal) • PORTUGAL UNLIMITED / Portugal Sem Limites • Black & White Digital • Flickriver • Black and white details • Nature of the World Unlimited (9000+ Invite your friends!) • Landscapes with Atmosphere • Flickr Social Club • Amateur Photographer Magazine • Flickr Social • Only Awesome Photos • Flickr Photo Unlimited (No People) • Brain Vision. Art. • All Trees • SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS Photos « less

Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, f/16.0, 1/4 sec, 16mm, ISO 500 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
Lens:	EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
Aperture:	f/16.0
Exposure Time:	0.25 sec (1/4)
Focal Length:	16mm
ISO:	500
Exposure Bias:	+1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 11.2 (Windows)
Show full info

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