Face of the Forest

Simply weird is how I would sum up this forest. From absurd looking bulbous hunks of moss wrapped around what seem to be the knees and elbows of gnarled mountain beech, to particularly phallic shaped old tree stumps overrun by an endless carpet of moss. This place is abounding with character and while incredibly difficult to compose an image in, is maybe my favourite place to be.

Pareidolia is one of the most fun concepts to play with as a photographer, to let yourself become completely immersed in the narrative of the ‘characters’ in your surroundings. Because of the primal origins of pareidoilia, (being able to gauge the intentions or mental state of a potential friend/predator) I think it affords the opportunity for the narrative of the ‘character’ to resonate with deeper beliefs.
The image below for me is the personality of the forest embodied into a character or being that represents the entangled connectedness of all living things.

My question is, do you see the character/being?! I’ve looked at this image for hours over the past few days and I can only see it in the way I’m used to if that makes sense. Sort of the same way as once you see an optical illusion one way, you can’t see it the other.

iso 100
f11
16mm
2.5"
a7riii

1 Like

Very Lord of the Rings locale and cool image from there. Pretty dang fascinating image, actually. No suggestions here.

I don’t see a character here but I do see how there might be one. These twisted shapes do seem organic somehow. It might be useful to wait for a thicker fog and take this same composition. But I very much like it as it stands now.

I see an ape ish creature, a dinosaur, the dinosaur’ baby, and a person looking from behind a tree.

I see faces in trees pretty often.

This is fascinating - the trees look like they came straight from a fantasy world. I like how you have simplified an otherwise busy scene. The foreground anchors the scene nicely, but does not pull my eye away from the contorted tree trunks.

Hey sorry to reply so late!
@Harley_Goldman Thanks man!
@Igor_Doncov Interesting, thanks for the feedback,. Yeah pretty much the thicker the fog, the better!
@Bradley_Strong Very interesting, thanks!
@Brian_Schrayer Thanks! Appreciate that.

Not only a technically good image, but so very interesting because of all the creatures. I especially see a round faced shy animal peeking over a tree root with just above it what appears to be a bear and just above it a part of a person who appears to be on hands and knees and above him or her a dinosaur and an ape and and and and . . … Fascinating!