#297 ASSIGNMENT: MALI DAVIES #1
In touch with nature this week, Mali Davies sets you a challenge for the next seven days with his first assignment. We're in search of what we know on our Photowalk edition now as 'Mali's Tree'. It's been wonderful to see the pictures you have been making from the assignments set so far, so please keep sending your photographs for inclusion on today's show page. This is a challenge for everybody, whatever interests you have, whatever camera you hold, film, larger format, DSLR, mirrorless, compact or smartphone – it’s all about the picture you see. Listen to the show to hear the full assignment and find pictures that match the challenge below. Also I promote forward to my conversation with Grant Scott and Mandy Burton.
Send your pictures in to studio@photographydaily.show - 2000 pixels wide, any orientation you prefer; square, portrait or landscape.
My thanks to our wonderful patrons and MPB.com who sponsor this show; the number one company in the UK, the US and Europe when it comes to buying, selling and trading used camera kit online – it’s a safe place to do business, with guarantees upon what you buy.
BY MALI DAVIES
This is the tree, Mali’s Tree, the one that got me through lockdown madness. What’s ‘bonkers’ about this, is I took it on the humble Fujifilm X100s.
I finally have a submission for you but I must confess I had more than one week from listening to the assignment to actually being able to get out on a Mali tree hunt. Let's just say it's been an interesting little while and life has gotten in the way of getting out!
Anyway, I took this photo on the evening of being "released" from my chemo pump just a mile or so from our house. I have to say the drone has been a great asset during these times as it allows me to get some pretty interesting angles without having to physically walk up any big hills, yet still makes me get outside. I call it shutter solace!
I have also included a second picture which looks the other way toward Morecambe. It's a lot more dramatic but the tree isn't quite as central to the image, but helps to set the scene.
BY MATT OGIER-RUSSELL
I am loving the 7-day assignments, but have so little time during the normal week that I save them until I know that I can be reasonably true to the 7-day aspect. So I listened to assignment #297 whilst flying to Inverness recently for a friend's much-belated 60th celebration; "a few days away" staying in a hunting lodge in the middle of nowhere with 20 or so of their other friends.
I have never been that far north, man alive, was it beautiful: Verdant Valleys, Granite Mountains, Rushing Rivers and Wonderful Wildlife (including Golden Eagles, Osprey and plenty of deer visible to the keen of eye buy way out of range to be anything more than a spec on my 18mm to 55mm zoom that I had packed).
I took a wander around "our" Loch during one of the sunny spells between downpours (apparently it was "unusually wet for the time of year" last week but I get the feeling that this is a stock phrase used for most, if not ALL visitors to the estate!) and as I rounded a corner this little chap came into view. I hope I have done the scene justice and that others will enjoy my "Mali's Tree" alone on the backs of Loch Morie.
I think I shot the first in this sequence the day before I listened to the first of your shows referencing ‘Mali’s Trees’. It was in fact two days after you had released the show. Anyway, today I was out and about and decided to go back and have another look at the tree. What a difference a couple of weeks makes? Here we’ve gone from winter to spring and almost summer. The third picture is a plaque that has been posted close to the tree. It’s great isn’t it that people have a love for trees and want to keep them around.
BY GEOFF DUNHAM
First time mailer, a recent arrival to your podcast. Thanks for the pods, they never fail to get me thinking and help with my mental health. Inspired by Mali's tree I've attached one for consideration - the awe-inspiring brutalism of Wyndham Court in Southampton with its solitary and defiant/lonely tree. It’s not perfect, my camera wasn't quite level, I'll go back and retake it at some point.
I’ve been patiently waiting this week for the right conditions for capturing a Mali’s Tree. Yesterday evening didn’t look too promising, but I went out for a walk anyway. The sun was hidden behind the clouds and the tree I had in mind turned out to be a disappointment. Instead, I walked on with the intention to photograph the different sorts of birds gathering.
Suddenly, the sun broke through the clouds creating an amazing light. Still focusing on the birds, I almost missed what was going on behind me. Just by chance, I turned around and there it was - my own Mali’s Tree. It was not as big and majestic as I’d imagined, but it was beautiful. I hurried to set up my tripod but didn’t get the result that I was looking for. I then decided to try out exposure bracketing. I usually don’t like the look of HDR photos, but I thought It was worth a try. I took a couple of shots with different exposure and merged them in Lightroom. I think the result came out pretty well. Thank you for doing this podcast! It’s become a Friday morning routine to listen to your Photwalks. ‘The Assignment’ is a welcome addition and cheers me up on Mondays.
BY PAUL CASHMAN (pictures above and below)
This silhouette (above) was taken in Holkham, North Norfolk. Taken on an iPhone. This shot (below left) was taken around 5 minutes into my 2hr daily commute. Even at 5.30am I couldn’t resist nature’s mist in front of me. This has to be the best tree in Norfolk-land to photograph. I pass this tree every day and always glance across to see how the light is affecting its mood.
BY JOHN MILLAR
A picture of a tree I refer to as my "M1 tree." This tree first caught my eye heading north on the M1 a couple of years ago. It's just under a mile (as the crow flies) from Hardwick Hall, and stands out on its own on the top of a hill. I'd passed many times and considered how I would go about capturing an image of it.
June 2021 was my first visit after some planning using Google maps to help find a good spot. With this, I was able to pinpoint a small place to pull in on the other side of the road to the field in which the tree lives. From there, I could cross the road to the field entrance, and utilising a moderately long lens, isolate the tree on the hilltop.
I do have a bit of a thing these days for solitary trees that appeal to me. I've found 2 within 5 miles of home I particularly like to capture. The M1 tree though is my favourite to visit, and I do get to do so fairly regularly, to which I share the posts on my Instagram feed (helps greatly with my 365, and also seeing how the tree changes over time).
BY VICTORIA ROBB
I've gone for a dead tree that I just love the shapes of, and is a watch outpost for crows and ravens in the Winter. It is a marker point on Putney Heath-Wimbledon Common I walk past often. Despite no longer being a living tree, it is living in the wildlife big and small that can be found on and around it. Saturday also was one of those lucky days of dramatic clouds behind it to help it stand out in the increasing green around.
BY PATRICK BRITSCHGI
Here is my tree. This is the unofficial signature tree at the Villette Park, our local park at Lake Zug in Cham, Switzerland-land.
I have taken the photographs with my smartphone on my walks in the pandemic, in the autumn and winter of 2020/2021. The mist and the snow may give an idea of the calm and deep atmosphere I feel in the park. The park is also nice in spring and summer, in any weather, but the atmosphere is different.
I visit the park often and admire this majestic old tree every time I walk there. It must be very old and does not have much foliage in summer, but it's always there as a guardian and landmark. The building was built in 1866 as a summer house for a banker from Zurich who had built the local railway line. Now the garden is public, and the villa is a restaurant and exhibition place.
The tree is difficult to photograph as it is surrounded by other trees and man-made structures. In order to isolate the tree, I had to go close and use the panorama function (vertically) for the required wide angle.
BY DAVE WOLANSKI
I’ve been getting my steps in by walking in a small local park for a few years now. I take my ipohone along because I can and got this photo the other day. I liked the light and the textures. Love the Challenges!
Greetings from Franceland. I thoroughly enjoyed your interview with Mali Davies setting this assignment. There was a definite similarity in attitudes towards trees as you can see in this blog post I wrote last year. The attached image actually has 3 trees in it, but from this angle the canopy appears as one tree so more Mali-ish trees.
These lone trees in the middle of a farmer’s field have always caused me to wonder why they were spared, whereas the other trees were removed to create the field. A quick Google search says they were left in the field to provide shade relief to the farmers who preceded the era of airconditioned tractor cabs.
It would probably be bad Karma to cut them down now.
BY COLIN CUNNINGHAM
BY DREW BROWN
This tree was on my lockdown walk route and only a 5-minute stroll from home in Cheadle Hulme, Manchester. I only shot it once for this, soon after sunrise on this particular morning. I just thought it looked so impressive.
BY COLIN MAYER
Here's my Mali's tree. It's actually the Brush Box tree outside my home and I can see it from my home office window. It's one of many that was planted in our village to commemorate the fallen WW1 soldiers. Years ago, when my children were younger, I tied a piece of rope and an old tyre to it for them to swing on. Local children still swing on it when they are waiting for the school bus.
BY JON KOLB
Old cottonwood snag still providing refuge at one of my birding stops.
BY MIKE MILLER
I have a Mali's tree in training! It was recently planted on the top of a berms behind my home. I had to get down really low to cut out the baseball diamond and the houses. The sky was clear as the sun was setting, giving a minimalistic vibe to the photo.
BY ROBERT WEIGEL
Well, here it is. My tree. Or should I say the demonic face in a tree! This was taken on the side of a tree located at what we call the Experiment Station. It is an agricultural research facility located here in Hays, Kansas. I really like how this turned out. I love looking for and photographing the unusual.
BY IAN REID
BY KERRY ADAMS
On our last visit to Buttermere, we walked past the famous lone tree. I've never felt inspired to photograph it, it's one of those trees that everyone shoots. Don't get me wrong. I love trees. I admire all of them. I love to be around trees. I've even taken up forest bathing.
The light broke through whilst we were beside the lake and I looked up and thought I'm going to do my own take on this famous tree. It will no longer be growing beside the lake. It's going to be a lone tree, on top of the fell. Thriving in all the difficult conditions the Cumbrian weather throws at it. Despite its difficult position it still manages to glow and look luminous and there it stands, all proud against all the elements. I think that's what trees do to my heart. They make my heart light up. I've never met one that I dislike. Thanks Mali and Neale for keeping the love of trees real.
BY BOB DEMERS
I’m obsessed with this tree; been shooting it for a couple of years now. Near, far, B&W, color, daylight, nighttime. Looks best to me in a monochromatic pool of led street light. I love how it’s flanked by the Saguaro sentries. Just double-checked the heights on them too; 7’ and 10’.
BY STEVE SAMPSON
BY ROB SPICER
Here are two of my favourite Mali trees. The first one is in a park in Mississauga Ontario, on Lake Ontario. The second one is in a graveyard near my home. I pass by it quite often while walking my dogs and always stop to look and admire it.
Not many of the trees have leaves yet but I love trees with no leaves you can see they character shining through.
BY CHRIS CANHAM
A ‘Mali’s Tree.’ A favourite tree. First a confession; I’ve been planting individual trees since I was a teenager so to choose a ‘favourite’ would be like choosing a favourite child, it can’t be done (well not officially;) but that’s not to say some are more characterful and wiser than others, usually through their great age and the sheer amount of weather they have experienced. In my part of the land many of what were large individual, weathered trees have, up until the 60s, been harvested and the land turned over to arable fields. But there are a few substantial guardian boundary trees scattered about, usually within hedges and at junctions of ancient byways. Byways we used to explore on ‘mountain’ bikes, these trails, over time, got named due to one characteristic or another along the trail. ‘Snail Trail’ because of the large edible snails left behind from the Roman occupation. ‘Heart Break Hill’ because of the long hard slog uphill. And, ‘Old Man In The Tree’…
BY GERALD MURPHY
I’ve been looking around the area where I live and I can’t see any lone trees that attract me to select them for further examination. There are, however, three lone trees that I’ve photographed in the past three years. Two of them I was keen enough to get up at about 4am to prepare for sunrise to shoot. Those trees were the Buttermere lone tree (first large photo) and the lone tree at Llyn Padarn (bottom right).
The second image (bottom left) is different. I took it later in the morning as I walked around Buttermere. Unlike the other two trees, I’d never seen photos of it before, but I was immediately drawn to the graceful way it seemed to bow to the lake. It seemed much more beautiful than the other two – those are famous trees but are spindly things until you are almost within touching distance. It’s only then that you see them against the lake and mountain background. The one that I like best, the second image, I liked immediately, just for itself. The other two needed a lot of thinking about. The second tree looked good from almost any angle. For me, that’s what I would choose as my ‘Mali’ tree.
BY ANNE GRIEVES
On my way home from Nottingham and the moon was rising above my favourite tree.... the only camera I had was my phone! So I had to stop and take the photo with whatever camera I had with me, of course. Whenever I am out now I look for ‘Mali’s tree.’ He has a lot to answer for.
BY BRIAN LEONARD
I love doing photo walks through one of several state parks that we have here in Delaware. This is one of my favorite images that I have captured at Trap Pond state park in Laurel. DE. The pond actually has several trees that are literally growing directly out of the water.
BY CRAIG HUGHES
Hope Mali likes this one. When he mentioned a dead tree could still have a character, this came to mind for me. I love the shape of this old tree.
BY KEVIN BEACHAM
Although not a tree or nature person it’s good to be in nice places and for this week I found myself in the middle of a housing estate, walking Bubby, our Akita, not the most likely place I thought to find a tree but these were so tall and grand and in the middle of an estate, it warranted a picture.
BY SUSAN LARSSON
This tree stands in the middle of a field on one of our favorite local walks. Interestingly, this walk is posted that you are ALLOWED to walk there - as opposed to the many no trespassing signs one otherwise encounters. Nevertheless, while we don’t have allemansrätt here (and your pronunciation is quite good, for a “furriner”:-), we do have an aggressive state agency that has purchased large swathes of lands in our area, the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife - and these lands are open to all. In some ways, it feels freer to walk here on the land from Fish and Wildlife, as well as state and national parks, than in Sweden (yes, we have a second home on the west coast there) - where it seems that more and more, we see signs that say “private” with people questioning us as we walk past - and less and less available for every man’s right - or the right to roam. Either way, our photowalks here in Washington, or on the west coast of Sweden offer wonderful opportunities for photography - you would love it:-)
BY NEALE JAMES
I was a little spoiled for choice with this challenge; I had three possibilities. I talked about this on the MORE show last Saturday - this is one of the three. I have seen and photographed this tree as a backdrop since 2008 and so, I think, I feel an affiliation and certainly affection for and with this wonderful evergreen. There’s equally a touch of Africa within this scene for me, a wonderful continent for which draws me back every once in a while.
