@Slynk - yeah, normally I manage without a tripod too, but I took the opportunity to play with the manual functions of the camera, and once I got in the shade the exposure times needed better stability than my shivering in the cold.... @bsteph & Niko - cheers, I liked the contrast myself...just to the other side (just too far to get in the picture nicely) was a tree completely without leaves - it was wierd, the contrast of the green, brown and bare all together..... (,")