The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

Long hair, a shaft of light, and a deep dark wood

A few days ago, while everyone was either celebrating, or desperately trying to avoid, Valentine’s Day, my wee lass turned 15.

Quite how she got to be 15 already remains a mystery. To me she is still about 6 or 7 years old. But then, I suspect that might be the case for most Dads when they look at their daughters.

Usually I make Meg a birthday card using my Photoshop skills to put her in an image with her favourite character or celebrity of the moment.This year, though, I just went for a non-manipulated photo taken the previous week when we were out for a walk in Dalbeattie Wood.

Admittedly Dalbeattie Wood is hardly a place of wolves, gruffalos or houses made out of candy designed to lure lost children into the witch’s grasp. It has a car park, easy to follow paths and is a pleasant place to go for a stroll. But I always have my camera slung over my shoulder just in case something might grab my attention.

Noticing a shaft of sunlight along the path, we decided to have a bit of fun with her throwing her head back, causing her hair to splay out in the light. Different angles and different shutter-speeds were tried, but in the end this was the one I fell in love with, and so did Meg. It looks like a joyous salutation to the sun.


Click on the image for a larger version

It also planted the idea for the hair shots I did with Shelagh McDonald the following day (see last post)

9 comments

Eryl said...

This is a fantastic photo, so full of energy and fun. I love it!

angryparsnip said...

Wonderful photo and like Eryl said so full of energy and fun.

I must admit a bit of envy of such beautiful hair. I have always wanted to toss my head like that so my hair floats about but depending on what drug I am taking one never know how much hair I have. And it is always very short.

Happy Birthday to Meg and I hope there was a grand cake !

cheers, parsnip

Kim Ayres said...

Eryl - thank you :)

Parsnip - another option is to set the camera on timer, then hang upside down so you hair is falling away from your head. Unless it's cropped really short, you should get some effect. Then when you download the image from the camera onto your computer, rotate it 180 degrees :)

And yes, Meg did enjoy her cake :)

hope said...

Happy Birthday Meg! Cool way to celebrate...by having Dad document. :)

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Hi Meg, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

What a joyful photo.

I remember being fifteen, it was fun. Enjoy your birthday and every day after. Dance even when there's no sun too :-)

Pat said...

Belated Happy Birthday Meg!
You are becoming a very accomplished model and I love your coat and gloves.xoxox

Rab said...

Great photo Kim. I might give it a try with my daughters if I can get them to listen to me for 2 minutes.

Are you able to go for long walks in the woods? If so that is great. We have a lot of woodland walks near us I would like to try one I can find the puff and calm to do them.

All the best

Rab

mapstew said...

Great stuff! Must try that with Helena, I have NO chance with the older two! :¬)

Kim Ayres said...

Hope - :)

Guyana-Gyal - she loves dancing. If she only did it when the sun was out, here in Scotland she'd hardly ever do it ;)

Pat - I'm sure you could give her plenty of tips :)

Rab - the woods have different length walks - from half a mile to about 4 miles, so you choose whatever you feel up to :)

Mapstew - absolutely give it a go before she gets too self conscious :)

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