The dappled light and shade of the forest at high summer afternoon in Southern Maine.  This is the forest that edges the Kennebunk Plains, ferny and open. Not an old forest as it has grown up since 1947, the year Maine burned. In 1947 wildfires consumed hundreds of thousands of acres from one end of Maine to the other, and villages as well. If compared to a mature forest like those at Rachel Carson and Wells Reserve, which did not burn, the difference is immediately obvious.

But that is history. What attracts me here is the sandy track leading the eye deeper and deeper into the forest, and the play of light and shadow.

Nikon Coolpix P500 at 23mm equivalent field of view, f3.5 @ 1/160th @ ISO 160. Program with Active D-Lighting. The Active D-Lighting handled the range of shadow and shade just about perfectly, providing an exposure that I could easily tweak in Lightroom for a very realistic effect.

Processed in Lightroom for Clarity and Sharpness.

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