I have photographed this woodland on numerous occasions, but on this occasion someone was walking along the path as many people must do given its well-defined track through the woods.

Emerging from the stand of betula pendula (native trees to Ireland) an apology rang out for ruining the images we were taking. "Not at all" came our happy response and I showed the subject how she had appeared in the scene.

"I must have a copy of that!" she demanded and after a brief chat and a promise to forward on a copy we settled back down to capturing the scene without the human element.

It's a difficult decision at times whether to include people in an image, typically a travel image will feature one person or more to give the scene context and scale. Landscapes typically have no human element yet a landscape image can be improved by the combination of a recognisable human figure and the landscape being portrayed, adding a definite sense of the vastness of an open landscape, the height or breadth of a natural feature and to improve an image by providing the viewer with the ability to imagine themselves looking at that same scene.

The moment in the woods reminded me of the below interaction that I had on another workshop in Glendalough a few years back when two workmen who had been working at the ancient monastic site wandered into view down a long path, apologising as they approached.

Panoramic Ireland (that's me) create photography workshops and tours for all levels throughout Ireland, from woodland landscapes to ancient monastic sites.

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