The Ancient Yew Tree of Fortingall

Depending on the website you refer to the ancient Yew tree in Fortingall is the oldest in the UK, Europe or possibly even the entire world. At an age of between 3000 and 9000 years old this is a magnificant tree to visit.

The trunk is a mere shell of what it used to be (16 meters) due to fires and other mishaps over the decades (centuries, even) but there are markers to show where the entire trunk would have been.

A wall now surrounds the Yew to give it further protection, which made it difficult to create a nice photograph to show you. I have decided to show you a new, budding section of branch in my beloved bokeh style, which captures the beginning of spring and the fact that this tree is still very much alive.



For those of you who are religious, or even just curious about the tree and other holy landmarks in Scotland, you can read more about the Yew Tree on this site - Sacred Connections

Catch a falling star!

"Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket,
Never let it fade away!
Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket,
Save it for a rainy day!

For love may come an' tap you on the shoulder,
Some star-less night!
Just in case you feel you wanna hold her,
You'll have a pocketful of starlight!"
Perry Como

Bokeh!

So I decided to try a little experiment with the bokeh effect on my photographs.
I've done this before and created some photographs that I quite liked but I was only messing around.
This time, whilst I worked hard to achieve certain results, it didn't turn out as I planned. I even tried to create special effects by using shape masks over my lens. I couldn't get the aperture/distance combination quite right and I think my shapes were actually a little bit too large for my purposes.

However, here is a log of my attempts. Hopefully I will have a much improved version soon.

Christmas Tree

Close up of Christmas Tree

Star and Heart Lens Masks