snapping in the forest

trying to tick several "to do" items off the list i decided we should have a little outing to the Heartwood Forest today -- that should read "Heartwood Future Forest" as it was only planted this century!

as well as going for a bit of a walk (1.5 miles to be precise) i thought it would be a photo opportunity for AYWMC - and indeed it was

 this one i took for the depth - the way he path and posts draw the eye,
 but seeing it on a larger screen didn't do that for me

so i cropped it to a shot where i feel the branches lead the eye up to the canopy

now i've looked at it again to see if i can get the depth i was aiming for 

this is typical of the problem i have with lighting

these two just show how a bit of editing and tweaking
can achieve the sort of result i was aiming at,
but can i get that using manual controls?

                                           
       

but the most important shots were:

and