Sparkling Birch Trees

Sparkling Birch Trees, Bunloyne (Canon EOS 5D 79 mm, 1/250 sec at f/8.0, ISO 100 HDR)

I got this shot on the way home from Inverness today just east of the Bunloyne junction.  There had just been a snow storm and it had almost completely cleared away leaving blue sky to the west and the birch trees were completely covered in sparkling droplets of water and positively gleaming, set off against the coruscating Moriston River and the darker spruce and larch forest behind.  I used HDR processing having auto-bracketed three shots by +/- 2 stops as I was looking into the bright light.  I also used a circular polarising filter.  I took several shots looking towards the hill above Cluanie Dam where there was cloud disappearing, but the light on the birch was not so good and they didn't really come out that well.  This shot actually works quite well in black & white as well (see the wider shot below) but I think I prefer the subtle colours above.

Sparkling Birch Trees, Bunloyne (Canon EOS 5D 79 mm, 1/250 sec at f/8.0, ISO 100 HDR)