Twins in a forest

Ten-year-old Ruan Conradie from Franschhoek doesn’t borrow his parents’ phones to make calls or play games, but to take photographs.

“We spent the holidays at the Tsitsikamma Lodge where, as a family, we went walking in the pine plantations. Two brown trees in contrast with the grey ones around them caught my eye. So I borrowed my mother Lizette’s phone to capture the overall scene and the two dead trees.”

The two trees definitely stand out, but it’s the tree in the front on the left that anchors the picture, as it’s the first object you see. Because it leans to the right (towards the two dead trees), it also forces your eye to that side of the image. Then you not only see the two dead trees, but also that they stand out like twins, because both have an unusual curve at the bottom. From here, the darkness behind draws your eye to where the rest of the plantation’s trees disappear. The sky above competes for your attention, and it’s somewhat distracting. To achieve an image with a more artistic slant, crop it at the farthest tree tops, and just below the trunks of the dead trees. It also looks as if the photo has a blue-ish filter applied, which makes it more arty.