Christopher Harrison Photography
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The Sentinel Cypress

Val d'Orcia · Autumn

A solitary cypress stands on the crest of a ploughed hill, silhouetted against layered valley mist and a pale apricot sky. Receding ridgelines dissolve into the haze, compressing the middle distance into a sequence of tonal planes. The furrow lines of the foreground field draw the eye upward to the single vertical form at the skyline.

Scenes like this are rather common in Tuscany - and I found myself driving at dawn stopping in almost every lay-by to capture moments like this one. This lone cypress stands on a hilltop, backed by distant bigger hills. Haze and mist filled the valleys beyond, softening this into an almost pastel watercolour palette.

Camera
Sony α7R IV · Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS Sports
Settings
1/20s · f/6.3 · ISO 100 · 200mm
Captured
29 September 2025
Shape
landscape
Appears in
Val d'Orcia, Tuscany

About the prints

For me, printing is the end of the photographic journey. You've done all the hard work, edited the files and reviewed them. Seeing the photograph come out of the printer is the reward. The depth of colour from a printed photograph beats seeing it on a screen a hundred times over. Bring the story and this experience home with you with a fine art print from my portfolio.

Bluebells at Sunrise Printed on A4
Bluebells at Sunrise printed on A4 Fotospeed paper, editioned, titled & signed.

Each fine art print from my website is printed by me at home on my Canon Pro-1000 professional printer. To ensure the best prints possible, I use Fotospeed paper. This is archival grade paper, ensuring accurate colour representation. I then sign, edition and package the prints and get them posted to you. With this in mind, please allow up to 10 days for dispatch. If there will be any further delay to this, I will let you know via email - such as if I am on a trip away and it will be longer for dispatch.

If you do have specific requirements please let me know via the contact me form, and I will endeavour to solve any queries or requests. For example, if you need the print quickly for a special occasion, just let me know, and I will try my best to make it happen!

Bluebells at sunrise printed a4 with the edition number in the bottom left corner
Showing the detail of a print - you can see all of the details of Bluebells at Sunrise up close.

Not everything I’ve photographed is in the shop. If you’ve seen something on Instagram, in a gallery here, or at an exhibition that isn’t listed, just ask.

Why there's a border

The print will come with a white border around the photo to allow space for editioning and signing. This will also make it easier when you come to frame & mount your photograph, giving some flexibility. I sign the prints in an archival permanent marker, so it'll never fade.

Signing and editions

Every print is signed by hand in the lower border. Where a photograph is issued as a limited edition, each print is numbered, and once the last number has sold I never print that photograph at that size again. I print, sign and pack every order myself.

Read more about how they're made →

More from this collection

A Tuscan farmhouse and a row of Italian cypress trees sit on a rolling hillside, rendered almost entirely in silhouette against a dense amber haze. Layered bands of mist separate the undulating foreground from a receding ridge line, compressing the scene into a series of warm, near-monochromatic planes. The image is unmistakably Mediterranean in character, distant from the photographer's usual British subject matter.
Farmhouse in Silhouette Val d'Orcia From £55
Ground fog pools in the valleys between successive hill ridges as dawn breaks, each layer of mist separating the silhouetted landforms into distinct tonal planes. Cypress-like trees on a central knoll provide the only vertical counterpoint to the horizontal banding of fog and hillside. The warm ochre cast of the low sun reduces the scene to near-monochrome warmth, suppressing detail in favour of recession and depth.
Ridge After Ridge Val d'Orcia From £55
A solitary tree stands on a bare hillcrest, silhouetted against receding layers of misty hills under a warm peach dawn sky. Atmospheric haze dissolves the middle distance into pale blue bands, separating foreground agricultural slopes from wooded ridgelines beyond. The composition is anchored by the tree's precise placement against the tonal gradient where land meets sky.
One Tree, Many Hills Val d'Orcia From £55
A temperature inversion fills the Val d'Orcia valleys with layered mist at dawn, isolating a hilltop farmstead and its cypress avenue as a lone silhouette against the rising sun. Aerial perspective compresses the rolling Sienese hills into receding tonal bands, the foreground fog mass anchoring the frame. Captured in the last minutes before the inversion burned clear.
Before It Burned Clear Val d'Orcia From £55
Low-lying fog pools between the rolling hills of the Val d'Orcia landscape at dawn, lit from behind by a rising sun still close to the horizon. A lone farmstead on an isolated hillock breaks the surface, anchoring the composition amid the dissolving mist. The image was captured from altitude, compressing the layered landforms into a quiet, painterly sequence of receding planes.
A Hillock in the Crete Senesi Val d'Orcia From £55
A temperature inversion fills a broad valley with dense fog at first light, tree lines emerging as successive dark registers against the amber haze. The layering of mist, silhouetted woodland, and receding hills creates a strong sense of aerial depth without elevation. Captured in late September, the warm backlight and cool blue of the far ridgeline suggest the brief window between fog-lock and dissipation.
Dark Registers Val d'Orcia From £55