Dizzy Busy Sky

I don't remember why I was sitting here but I know what I noticed. All the gray. The sky, lines, poles, and the tree. For a short time I hoped something of color would happen by, but what is the chance of that when your aiming up. Too bad the street lamp didn't come on but this is what I had. The tree limbs being out of focus is what makes this interesting. It makes me a little dizzy.

Granny Tree

I thought this tree was worn. I knew I had to make an image but not to make it pretty. The key was to keep it ragged. I used my foggy window, the car, a mildew lens, and the sky, all of this yucked it up just enough. It has the classic Holga look and in a way, makes me think of a little old granny.

Autumn Morning

I was telling a friend and photographer the day before how I hadn't taken my Unity Park route to work, therefore no new images. This morning I wondered if I had a chance at a location shortly before this. That spot didn't look good, and I was thinking how the light wasn't happening anyway. As I approached the final turn, this is what I saw. Straight ahead it was and parking made it even better. I couldn't figure out what to do with the little black tree in front and have the sun in a good spot at the same time. I decided to try to hide it as you see it. The subtlety of it makes the shot (and I was trying to hide it?). I wasn't late for work, but wished I could have stayed longer. Who knows.

Ragged Tree

Who knows how much longer this tree will be making leaves. I think it took quite a beating in this past winter with the ice and snow. I liked how ragged and haggard it was but still tried to put on a good fall show. I think it did, and as usual, having the fog didn't hurt. I like the word ragged too.

Black Maple

I kept thinking there was an image here but it wasn't happening. If I widened out, I had distracting things to the left and right. The top had issues also. What made me zoom in and give this a try I don't know. Possibly because zooming and moving are easy? I'm not sure if the shot is about the tree or the leaves anymore but I like it. I wish postcards were vertical.

Bog Colors

There just wasn't that one tree full of color you think of. It had to be somewhere else. I go through phases of color. Sometimes I want it or just need it. Lately I've worried about loosing it. Back to dreary winter. The image has an obvious show of color and black and white. It's a nice contrast on this overcast day. Fall colors and respect for the dead.

Sinking Tree

This tree was acting somewhat like my latest horses but still I figured to do something with it. I thought I'd try the double shot pick. I've been doing more of these lately for some reason. All I can think of is the tree is sinking and not just behind the hill. The illusion from the lower ground. I'm happy with this one.

Autumn Sycamore 2

This image gives away the separation between the Sycamore and background. A little respect for the tree trunks I guess. I like this image as well. The soft carpet of golden rod and these things carrying the load. There are no deer here, but plenty of ticks I'm sure. Does that take the beauty out of it?

Autumn Sycamore 3

I like making images with trees and images of trees. Sometimes I've had hard times culling images due to an in camera crop. A little to the left the shot is about the tree, a little to the right and it's about the meadow. The opportunity I thought was to pick these things apart. Usually I do this with the sky as the background but that wasn't happening (to far to run). Good light right now and it would ruin everything. I like how the Sycamore does all the work, it looks like it has good light buy nature. I used a long (mildew) lens trying to bring the background closer. The Sycamore look like veins of a forest. If I could paint with a brush, this is what I'd paint.

Autumn Sycamore 1

I have several images of this family of Sycamore. I'm glad there were no leaves on the trees, how else would we see this. I think of the lady that said the color is gone. A photographer can't think this way, at least I can't. There has to be something, and I want to be the one to find it. I don't think I could recognize a sycamore leaf, I've never paid attention, only to the limbs. It makes sense that I should like this.

Water and Tree

This was one wet day. It almost looks like the water is coming out of the ground and headed out into the field but it was actually running to me and into a culvert. I thought shooting through my fogged up window helped with the feeling I had, wet and cold. It was slushy, wet, winter, and one of those days one should stay home. The tree was right at home. It's probably been through many of these days.

Tree and Fence

I wanted to do something with the sky, I found the cloud pattern so interesting. I'd rather not make an image of "just" clouds, and sometimes I do, but they have to be special. When I saw the fence and knew I could include it, I figured the image would work. It helps add dimension and gives a good base to the shot. With the lack of light on the fence, it went dark, more icing on the cake.

Poplar Tree

This was a day I didn't have the quick release plate. I had the camera, had the tripod, but not the connection. It was with the lens I wish I had. We had a breeze, it was a perfect day to do some time exposures, if... I had the QR plate. So what to do. I new I had to be steady and I wasn't, so I went to plan B. I held as steady as I could and took two exposures a fraction of a second apart at faster shutter speeds on top of each other, hoping the breeze would move the leaves enough so they blurred each other in combination. The faster shutter speeds helped me keep the tree in the same spot. It was really quit easy.

Maple Duo

The tree was pretty good but far away. Shooting from the side of the road worked out pretty well here in that it the bank was so close and the tree far away. I used half the frame for basically nothing but color, the other half being the star of the show. The depth of field separated the color and helps send you to the maple. Looking at this now I'm glad I didn't have a long lens. I would have a big image of the tree, but no environment.

Barn and Tree

This was a quiet, dull, wet day, and the Barn and Tree seemed to pop right out. The shrubbery on the right is perfect balance to the road on the left and it adds depth to the image. Shadows, shrubs, roads, secondary things, seem to help the main subjects of the image more interesting. Some of the places and things I make images of have so many looks to them. It's a matter of season, weather, time of day, all kinds of things. I wonder often about how many things I don't see.

Quiet Country Road

This was such a day. The tree is what I wanted to feature in my initial thoughts. I think the treeline, the power lines, poles, and even the road help show how big and grand the tree is. I wanted to shoot more of the tree but I had a building on the left (you can see a bit of it), and the composition wasn't there if you added more to the right. I love how dark the tree went. The ice on the tree and landscape were just "icing" on the cake! I'm glad it worked out the way it did. The image makes me think "Quiet" but it really wasn't. It was more crinkly.

Tree by House

I thought this worked out pretty well. I liked the texture of the wall and the vine on the tree. I wanted to do something of both and it seemed perfect to block out the sky with the wall. It was an overcast day, wet, rainy, perfect for this type of stuff. The bigger I make this image the less real it seems. I like the illusion.

Foggy Stop

I feel like the first tree on the left and the extra sign under the "Stop" sign (which you can't see well) make this more real. The tree throws the symmetry off of the nature and the extra sign makes the "Stop" sign less perfect. This was all on my left as I headed to work (it was a three way stop), so I turned to the right, started to turn a "U'ie", stopped, and shot this through my side window. If I were a tree I'd like having this sign as a neighbor.

Tree Shadow

Normally I like my tree work leafless. I couldn't help this with the leaves but then again, it's more an image of the lack of light, in the shape of a tree. I wonder how many people saw this. Sometimes when it's "just" a good day, our attention is on other things like the blue sky, or the lawn that needs to be mowed, not a shadow. I'll admit, I do watch for the changing shadows throughout the year on this wall but, this is another symptom I have of "photographicitus". It's not a bad thing.

Dead Tree

I've passed this field and tree for many years and always wondered why the farmer never took this tree down. This is a big hayfield and there's no reason to see why the tree should stay and have people working around it. I figured sooner or later nature would take it's course so I'd better figure out the shot. Some things look easy, maybe sound easy, especially when there finished. Maybe this as all the images I take are there and waiting but I don't see it that way. If the subject is there, and I'm there, it's not enough. I think there has to be a mental connection also. It could be like cooking where you need all the right ingredients, timing, temps, and attitude to make the taste go above and beyond. When I made this, I knew before I shot it was going to happen this day. After years of driveby's, and the one time I connected, the tree came down. People now look through the field towards the tree line for dear. There's no stopping at the tree like I did wondering why. It's just a field now.