Birch in a gale

It was strange to see the trees shaking and bending in full sunshine. Fortunately everything came through safely except for a flimsy fruit cage. 

The wind was strong enough that at one point I wondered if it was safe to be out cutting the grass under the trees, and I retreated to a protected spot for some photography.

This is a neighbour's silver birch, in an 8 second exposure. A hook and weight under the tripod kept it stable, but I found that it still wasn't steady enough for a sharp long exposure. In this scene everything was moving anyway.