Stills

Whenever I see woodland/forest/plantations in this state, I am always reminded of WWI (from film of course). What intrigues here are the standing trees - they look as though they were dead and the loggers left them. A shot that depicts well a certain type of upland landscape transformed by the Forestry Commission planting since the 1920s. The colours appear, from memory, to be very true. This is an exercise in composition with minimal props! The use of the heather patch and the cut branches in the foreground works well, as does the dead tree in the apex of the V. Not the most uplifting shot but accurate!!!
 

Reminds me of a clearcut Missouri pine forest, the kind that was planted during the Great Depression to replace the hardwood forests that were logged out at the turn of the century. Looks like a good place to twist an ankle
 

A sort of depressing "the hand of man" shot. One tree left standing for whatever reason. Though not an image I would say I like, it works well thanks to that sad tree -- the overall dull color and feeling emphasized (and uplifted a bit) by the unspoiled blue cloudy sky.
 

This reminds me of those trees from the Railway Children film as it seems so full of life. Some of those verticals in the background are a tad distracting at the points at which they intersect with the main subject.

Without resorting to a ruler I hazzard that the horizon pretty much sits at half-way point. Not that this worries me but adds to a sense of reflection between the sky (muted clouds) and floor (overgrown) in that they are very 'bland'.

With the arc of the subject tree taking me to the left side of the shot I find it a little unbalanced as nothing keeps my attention too long down that right hand side.
 

akikana,

The intersections of the background verticals were definitely a mistake in the field. I didn't see it in the viewfinder and only noticed them on screen.

I tried a couple of compositions to deal with the right hand side problem, but didn't succeed in dealing with it to satisfaction. In the end, I thought this centred composition the best.

I've remarked elsewhere that I can't decide whether I'm photographing the sky or the land in this series. This shot shows that indecisiveness off nicely.
 

A few comments about the subject matter here.

This area was a commercial Scots Pine plantation. Commercial, but not very commercial (heavy duty commercial planting is Sitka like the dark green trees in the background). Scots pine gives a much more open forest, which was the downfall here.

A freak storm two winters ago took out about three quarters of the tree cover without damaging any of the surrounding Sitka plantations. The trees weren't fully mature, but were harvested anyway. Most of the living trees were left standing (there are a number of clumps behind the camera here), as was anything not usable as timber. The harvesting was a bit rough and ready and the ground wasn't cleared (as you can see).

Self planted Scots Pine, and some of the more invasive species such as Birch, are re-appearing. The ground is covered with plant life that has taken the opportunity of the unexpected light. Water is a problem though. This is flood plain on one of the feeder rivers for Loch Ness.

Despite the apparent desolation, it is a beautiful place to be.
 

I'll have to be careful I don't create a challenge for myself in the comment I am about to make but I reckon that there are places in the New Forest that a indistinguishable from this. It is also interesting that not many forests are further away from this Glen than the New Forest.

I like the impression of devastation that this image creates and is common in an industrial forest, like the New Forest.
 

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reckon that there are places in the New Forest that a indistinguishable from this

And anywhere that there is commercial forestry (especially given that you can't tell that they were Scots Pines before they blew over).

There is nothing particularly remote or Highland about Glen Moriston (depending on your scale of course. Somebody from the Fens might disagree). Like 'capital of the Highlands' Inverness (which is coastal, estuary based and in a large flat farming area), the association with the Highlands is somewhat weak.

I look forward to the New Forest version :-)