The photo above was of a Beech
tree’s foliage on a sunny afternoon in June, in the woods of
Fort Fareham in Hampshire, and taken as a contre Jour image
(from the French meaning “against daylight”).
With the
camera pointed toward the sun or light source, metering on the
leaves allows the light to penetrate through showing the veins
and capillaries, leaving the background dark. If the metering
is carried out on the bright background it would still be
Contre Jour, but the subject, the leaves, would be in
silhouette.
Built in
1861, Fort Fareham lies just south of the town of Fareham near
HMS Collingwood. One of many Palmerston defences dotted along
the south coast, Forts Brockhurst, Elson, Rowner, Grange
and Gomer to mention just a few. Fort Fareham was built as a
bridge between the Gosport ones mentioned above and the ones
aligning Portsdown hill.
Fort
Fareham was occupied during the second world by the Royal
Artillery on anti-aircraft duties, and also doubled as a
nuclear fallout shelter during the cold war. The MOD sold it
to Fareham Borough Council in 1965, and since then it has been
occupied by businesses such as motor repair, double glazing
and fencing contractors etc., there are about 20 units within
the walls and is a hive of activity.
Surrounding the fort is a ditch which has no water to speak
of, and the immediate area has now been reclaimed by Mother
Nature, leaving a small woodland copse with many footpaths for
ramblers to enjoy the flora and fauna with the Beech trees
being resplendent in their majestic stature. |
