Large-leaved mock privet is a typical shrub of the Mediterranean region. Under optimal environmental conditions, the plant can form high trees and dense climax forests. The tree's appearance - dark, branched and very contorted trunks, is of great aesthetic beauty and a challenge for the landscape photographer.

A few days ago, while wandering through Serra do Buçaco (Portugal), I came across an ancient forest dominated by large-leaved mock privets several meters tall, certainly many decades old. It was a clear day, and the sun was shining. The light entered the forest, creating a mosaic of lights and shadows that marvelled me. The trunks, sometimes dark, sometimes green due to the mosses that covered them, zigzagged towards the sky and touched or overlapped each other. The atmosphere was one of great calm and introspection. It seemed I was inside a magical and sacred forest.

This forest's excellent preservation and antiquity are related to the fact that it has been part of a protected area since 1628, when it was occupied by Carmelite friars who walled the forest for its complete isolation. 1810, during the Third French Invasion, the French army tried to occupy Serra do Buçaco but was repelled by the Portuguese-English troops. Fortunately, the battle did not result in unrecoverable devastation for the Buçaco Arboretum. Religious orders were extinguished in 1834, but a few years later, the Forest of Buçaco passed under the administration of the State, remaining protected from degradation until today.

Using the raw format allowed the recovery of shadows' and highlights' details. The lens diaphragm was adjusted to the minimum to obtain maximum depth of field. Some will say that the image is too complex, but I see no disadvantage in being so, as far as it reflects reality.