Tracy Calder
Ex AP-staffer Tracy Calder is a photographer and writer who co-founded Close-up Photographer of the Year (CUPOTY) in 2018. Earlier this year she was awarded a Gold medal from the RHS for her Plant Scars series. Her work has been exhibited at The Photographers’ Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Saatchi Gallery. To see more, visit Instagram @tracy_calder_photo and www.cupoty.com
1 Find order in chaos
When you’re shooting woodland, it can be hard to make visual sense out of the chaos that surrounds you. To simplify the scene, look for groups of trees that are nicely separated, both across the frame and from front to back. Where possible, avoid shooting from angles that allow trunks to overlap, and choose one ‘hero’ tree around which the rest of the composition hinges. It can also be helpful to look for recurring shapes, lines and patterns.
2 Don’t be shy
Some tree species exhibit behaviour known as ‘crown shyness’ where the tops don’t quite touch, creating photogenic gaps in the canopy – this often occurs in trees of the same species and has been observed in black mangroves, Japanese larch and some species of eucalypt. If you’re lucky enough to witness this phenomenon, get on your back, point your camera towards the sky and set to work! If you’re not, then you can still achieve striking canopy shots by laying down,
