The Tree

Don't read this if you don't want to know about how I created this image, if you want to leave the magic well alone. ..The first thing I noticed about this tree was that a whole central portion is missing, evident by the stump. So obviously it has been through some trauma. It is also very striking in person, not just because of the way it's been photographed. There is even what looks like an animal path from the road where I was standing up to the tree, suggesting some special reverence on the part of nature...The conditions when I reached the tree didn't seem ideal. The sun was hidden behind a layer of hazy clouds from an approaching cold front, and the scene was generally washed out. If I had left the camera on auto, it would have exposed the scene for the foreground, blowing out all detail in the sun and the sky, and leaving me with a drab, boring image...I knew, however, that because of the way a camera works, if I underexposed I could capture the details in the sun and clouds and leave the tree and foreground as dark silhouttes, because the interest in the photograph was in the form of the tree and drama in the sky, anyways...After viewing my camera's lcd screen, I could see that the sky looked pretty amazing through they camera's eyes, and whatever problems I had with color or contrast could be fixed when I got home. So I hung around the tree for about an hour as clouds moved past and over, lining up several different compositions and freezing my hands off. All the while getting to know this tree a little better.

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Filename: The Tree
Copyright: Benjamin M. Williamson
Image Size: 2684x3355 / 5.7MB; Bare Clouds Courage Dramatic Hill Hope Landscape Lone Love ME Maine New England Rays Resilience Scenery Sky Strength Sunburst Sunset Tree Turner
Contained in galleries: Archive, Storm Light

Don't read this if you don't want to know about how I created this image, if you want to leave the magic well alone. ..The first thing I noticed about this tree was that a whole central portion is missing, evident by the stump. So obviously it has been through some trauma. It is also very striking in person, not just because of the way it's been photographed. There is even what looks like an animal path from the road where I was standing up to the tree, suggesting some special reverence on the part of nature...The conditions when I reached the tree didn't seem ideal. The sun was hidden behind a layer of hazy clouds from an approaching cold front, and the scene was generally washed out. If I had left the camera on auto, it would have exposed the scene for the foreground, blowing out all detail in the sun and the sky, and leaving me with a drab, boring image...I knew, however, that because of the way a camera works, if I underexposed I could capture the details in the sun and clouds and leave the tree and foreground as dark silhouttes, because the interest in the photograph was in the form of the tree and drama in the sky, anyways...After viewing my camera's lcd screen, I could see that the sky looked pretty amazing through they camera's eyes, and whatever problems I had with color or contrast could be fixed when I got home. So I hung around the tree for about an hour as clouds moved past and over, lining up several different compositions and freezing my hands off. All the while getting to know this tree a little better.