The one above is a shot taken at the same time but from a slightly different PoV and with a very different treatment - it's interesting to compare both shots I think. I processed this one to represent the forest by day and the one over at se7en to represent the forest by night.
I thought it might also be of interest to post the backstory to this scene. It's a real golden tree and was put there in 1991 to commemorate the fire in September 1990 which destroyed over 500 hectares of forest. The tree is a chestnut covered in real gold leaf and it is surrounded by the burned stumps of 5 trees that perished in the fire, to symbolise the death and rebirth of the forest.
It is said to be enchanted because the waterfall that you see is the outflow from a lake known as "The Fairies Mirror" which the fairies Viviane and Morgane, from the legends of King Arthur, used when performing their toilet. The lake, guarded by the Golden Tree, stands at the foot of the Valley of no Return where Morgane imprisoned the enchanter Merlin in a bubble of air to steal his powers. Merlin eventually manouevred his prison up onto the rocks high above the valley and threw himself to his death, thus breaking Morgane's hold over him.
The whole of the forest around the valley was ravaged by the 1990 fire but the Valley of no Return was left untouched! Go figure...
What a fabulous place and fascinating bit of history I love the reasons for the golden tree. I have just looked it up on Google maps to see if we could get there next month while in Normandy but a little too far given everything else we want to do. Next time!
@fishers@catwoman2@helly31 Thanks Katharine, Mary and Helen - I actually think that the version at se7en, being moodier, has a much more 'enchanted' feel than this one.. but glad you enjoyed it. I certainly enjoyed taking and processing it.
@amandal What a lovely thing to say Amanda - I confess to feeling a bit overawed by the august company I'm keeping, but it's in stretching that you grow ;-)
@dannydavies Thanks Danny for the comment and the fav - both very much appreciated. It is much photographed as you rightly guess but not so often from this angle as it's a bit of a muddy scramble in winter to get to this viewpoint and in summer the waterfall dries up. Ive shot L'Arbre d'Or many times but I've never been happy with the result until now.
People who know nothing about digital photography ask what I mean by shooting in the RAW. I tell them it's like having the negative in a film picture and you can play with it. Your two photos demonstrate that so well. I love the story of Camelot and by association Merlin. No expert like this but such wonderful stories.
@dibzgreasley Thanks Debs - this is just outside the village of Tréhoronteuc. A 'Google' will get you lots of hits but all in French: I did find one English link but the site is very odd and the information not terribly reliable - http://www.carnaval.com/france/merlin/
I love this shot, fav