The story behind David Noton's favourite landscape shot – of a "marvellous" beech tree

A tree for the ages

"Beech trees are common in this part of the country, but this one is a particularly marvellous specimen," he says. "It’s such a wonderful shape. Beech can apparently live for hundreds of years with coppiced woodlands living for more than 1,000. My wife Wendy and I often speculate how old this one is – who knows?"

David has developed a real affection for the tree, which he describes as an endless source of inspiration. "A couple of years ago, I was commissioned by a local landowner [to show] how the landscape changes over the seasons. I did a ‘four seasons’ set of pictures of this beech tree, which is why I say I’ve built quite a relationship with it – I wonder what tales it can tell."

Setting up the tripod

Setting up his camera and tripod on a slight incline, looking down into the woods, David needed to shoot as wide as possible to capture the tree at its most magnificent. He used his Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM lens at its widest focal length and instinctively framed the shot with the tree in the centre. A polarising filter allowed him to subtly enhance the colours of the scene, while the camera’s high-resolution capabilities ensured the quality and clarity of the images would be "superb".

As soon as he looked through the viewfinder, David knew the image was working, and thought it might even be his shot of the year. "You just get that feeling sometimes, don’t you? I’ve used the wonderful shapes of the branches arching through the image and put the tree dead centre to create an element of symmetry. This image says growth to me, and maybe age, or wisdom."

Exposing for the shadow detail while holding onto the highlights, David says the image is about the beauty of the subject, adding that he relishes moments like this when he shoots close to home.