I can see the oak for the (lack of) trees

Myself and a friend decided to go on a day trip to Brighton today. And aside from the beautiful weather, food and shopping, we came across something rather beautiful in the the free Wild Planet exhibition on the seafront.



This image formed part of the exhibition and is simply stunning. From the air it looks like a giant oak tree, but this image is made up of storm damage and scars left on the landscape by forestry machinery used to retrieve logs.

Swedish photographer Jocke Bergland took the shot while flying over Sweden documenting damage in the wake of Hurricane Gudrun. Who knew such destruction could cause such beauty?

Jocke says of the image: 'It's as if the heavens had sent a message to the forest industry reminding them that, in this area, deciduous trees would have withstood the winds much better than pine. It's also another stark reminder that global warming will lead to regular and stronger storm winds'.

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II with 28-70mm f2.8 lens; 1/800 sec; 200 ISO; Cessna aircraft.