Fern Gully

That's really what this place is called -- a cleft in the hills in the Botanic Gardens just below the summit of Mount Lofty, east of Adelaide. It's a slice of cool rainforest that exists in this somehow sheltered spot, where ferns grow in abundance, both ground-living and massive tree-ferns. It's like walking into the Jurassic, you're waiting for the dinosaurs to go by! The shot was a technical no-brainer: composition was the important part, the chip would do the rest. It did a good job capturing everything from densest shadow to burned-out highlights. The layering of light, colour and depth have almost a sense of classic artwork composition. Sharpness and colour were enhanced slightly. April, 2009; Fuji FinePix S5600, automatic. Image by Mike.