I absolutely adore this image by Jim Collum, he is an excellent photographer and I especially like his outdoor compositions.
There are certainly plenty of images of trails that lead the eye through trees and foliage, and generally I do find those types of images simplistic and dull. However, this image stands above those, in my personal opinion. The trail does lead the viewer to the right side of the image, but the two crooked trees lean left and create another visual pathway to the left. This provides such interest and the trees almost act as borders to frame within themselves.
In addition, I have a weak spot for black and white and ‘haunting’ type images. I find the tones of this image to be delicate with a great range.The darker blacks being up front and the trees in the back fading to white.
Now that I look closely at this piece, I seem to also see a third path that seems less obvious. Straight ahead, two trees run parallel and seem to show a clearing with no trees leading to bright light.
Forests with trees and foliage are an excellent spot to show rhythmic patterns in imagery and I feel that this image has that with juxtaposition interplay of the crooked trees. Check out Jim Collum’s work on his website as well as his Instagram page.
Agree? Disagree? Got an alternate take? Please feel free to comment.
Recording Light 