March Challenge is a Tree or Trees-Post Here

[LeeKen]

mountaindew-You should post other pics somewhere else. I'm very curious about what exactly we are looking at. The image is great. Surreal!

[finnbay]

Haven't had the time to comment on these, so will try to catch up a bit.

mpache - great lookin' tree, silouette detail is super

LP - sweepers like this give me the willies! nice shot though, like the bridge in the background.

mluchau - nice stand of red pine - bare ground, even!

Paul - I really like these kinds of shots - you asked for C&C and what I might have done was find an angle where the row led your eye to something - barn, woodsline, etc.

mountaindew - that's a great shot of a tree with a lot of character - looks like a twister came through and ripped the bark off!

Dances - love the pattern

eyeguy - you got dumped on! great use of shape and the snow flakes (clumps?) give it some depth

Hope I caught everyone up to this point! Thanks all for posting!

[polarsusd81]

I know this isn't from this month, which doesn't really qualify, but I love this photo. It was taken from the bow of my cousin's boat coming off a White River backwater lake down in Arkansas. It was shot in April of '05. What I love about it is the way the fog is coming off the water and the backlit tree coming out of the water. I was lucky this image was in focus as we were moving about 20-25 mph towards the tree when I shot it. I tried to get him to stop, but it was about 20 degrees that morning and he wasn't wanting to sit in the cold any longer than he had to. Darn warm blooded southerner.

If it doesn't qualify that is okay, but I wanted to share it anyway.

[mountaindew]

DeeDee, Explorer, LeeKen, & Finnbay Thanks guys!

LeeKen, not sure what you mean? It's a tree that got twisted growing up, and over the time the bark had worn off. There's already new smaller trees around it. It won't be much longer till that tree falls down. What makes it look really different is that it's an HDR and it really brings out the colors of it after PP.

I'm waiting for some really heavy thick clouds with blue sky, as if there's a thunderstom coming in...that would have been an awesome effect on it along with that tree!

I will do some more experimenting on HDR and post it later. I'm still learning this.

Thanks!

[mountaindew]

eyeguy54 -

Wow...look at the size of the snowflakes coming down! Looks pretty heavy just looking at the branches. Cool shot!

[Paul]

Finnbay, I know that pic would have looked good with a barn or something in it, bu tyou have to realize that in the tundra there ain't too much around. LOL thanks.

[finnbay]

[DeeDee]

 Originally Posted By: polarsusd81

Darn warm blooded southerner.

Hey! Hey! Hey! Yea at 20 degrees I'd have to in too

[finnbay]

Well, here's my entry into this month's challenge. Wanted to try something I haven't done before and have been thinking about this for a couple of weeks. Was hoping I could get a shot with the full moon illuminating the tree(s) of my choice. Forecast is for snow on Friday, so with the clear skies decided to give it a shot tonight. Started this evening in the red pine plantation, but it seemed the darkness of the needles just sucked the light. There is a small grove of popple nearby so moved to that, and they were reflecting light much better. This is a shot of one of the few larger trees in the stand, and if you look carefully, I had aligned Orion moving into the left side of it. You can easily see Orion's belt, but the rest is less obvious. Canon 40D 17-40 mm 200 ISO f7.1 1 minute bulb Shot taken at approximately 8:30 this evening.

[DeeDee]

Very cool. I love the stars but at the same time kinda scary. You guys have the best trees and everything else. My vacation there is getting closer!

[mountaindew]

finnbay,

Just beautiful! Your camera captured a lot of light in this kind of darkness!

I understand the settings you had on your 40D, all except for the 1 minute bulb shot? Can you please explain? Is it a minute exposure with a flash?

That is just amazing shot. Looks like you had to get low on the ground to take that shot.

[finnbay]

Thanks Mountaindew. Most dslrs will only allow you up to a 30 second exposure with their settings. If you turn the dial past 30 seconds, the next setting is called "bulb" When you use that, you control how long the shutter stays open by holding the shutter down until you think you've exposed it long enough. I have a cable release, so held the button on that and kept track with the second hand on my watch. When it hit a minute, I release and the shutter closed again. I tried exposures at 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 45 seconds, 50 seconds and 1 minute, and this seemed to me to turn out the best. I could photoshop more exposure and make it light enough to look like the sun was shining on it, but then I'd lose a lot of the sky. I felt this was the best combo of dark and light for effect. Opinions?

[Steve Foss]

Ken, I think that worked out great, and the gnarly subject tree is nicely set off by all the pole-straight trees surrounding it.

[mountaindew]

finnbay, Thanks for the information. I've never tried that. Will need to experiment on that.

Looks awesome! I really liked that.

[Dbl]

I've been gone the past week or so if I may get up date on all the beautiful shots as well.

mapache- beautiful old oak you've done well to capture its character.

nluchau- big stand of pines that looks cool with the snow and bare ground to contrast it.

Cicadia- reminds me of home, I grew up near where your shot was taken.

Paul- that looks like home as well, winter on the prairie. Hard to imagine sitting in 85 sunshine that I enjoyed this week.

mtdew- very dramatic image of a tree with many twists. I personally like your other image posted off site without the halo. Sometimes it is a good thing to wait and get another impression of your work after letting it sit a while. Still nothing takes away from the fine photo, I like the angle with the twists taking you up and away.

Dances - I'm with Ken the patterns are what interest me with your shot.

eyeguy - I'm glad I missed that snow!

finnbay - you were thinking along the same lines as I was, looking for some dramatic lighting to draw some interest to the trees. I've always been a fan of long exposures with stars present to show motion. Nice work!

Looks like the challenge is going very well this month some fun interpretations of the theme. Keep them coming we are getting down to the last week.

[Dbl]

I've been waiting to participate because I had a trip planned to a warmer climate that would make this a bit different than local trees. I had a nice plan in mind of the shot I wanted and in the end I never got the shot.

I did end up taking a fast snapshot when I happened to notice what was going on behind me one evening! So here is my image that took about 5 seconds to set up and shoot. Not exactly what I had in mind but it will have to do.

Model = Canon EOS-1D Mark II N

Exposure Time = 1/8000"

F Number = F2.8

Exposure Program = Aperture priority

ISO Speed Ratings = 1000

Date Time Original = 2008-03-15 17:28:55

Exposure Bias Value = -0.67EV

White Balance = Auto white balance

I shot this with a 300/2.8, who says you can't use that lens for landscapes! I was actually shooting baseball at the time and just swung around and fired away, swung the camera back and continued shooting the game.

[finnbay]

Wow, wow, wow! Love the color and the sillouettes don't leave any doubt in what clime they were taken in!

[mountaindew]

That's great fire colors! Orange to yellow..(sigh). Man, where's a lawn chair and a cold beer!? Great job!

[explorer]

finnbay, great photo! I love the stars.

Dbl, I really like this shot. The colors are great.

[turtleboy]

Pointed and shot this this AM.Was out in the snow taking a few pics of the pup. I'm not much at photography but a beautiful if snowy/slushy morning.

[Dbl]

turtleboy, that is really a cool shot! I like how you can see the background through all the snowy branches.

[yakfisher]

I like the look of that shot too. Nice work.

[finnbay]

Turtleboy -

It's difficult to get the lighting of both the foreground and background in a shot like this. You did well! Nice shot!

[mmeyer]

Dan, the colors are wonderful and they go great with the silhouette.

Turtleboy, Great shot. I was hoping to get too but haven't made it.

Ken, I love the night shot. The stars are great behind the trees. Kind of dreamy.

Sorry, if I missed anyone.

Mike

[dockothebay]

OK - here goes... I spent last week in Harlingen, TX at a family gathering, so hoped to get some different tree pictures. Well, I got plenty of tree pictures, but nothing particularly good, so I'm sharing one that is just kind of meaningful to me! This is the street where my parents live in the winter - a typical mobile home park down there - they are everywhere! Everyone has a palm tree in their yard, and my Dad added a Norfolk Island Pine!! I learned this week that it was a table decoration at his retirement party 18 years ago.

Taken with a Canon 30D; 1/250; f/8.0; 70mm; ISO 100

I used photoshop to deepen the colors a bit (it was 4:30 or so in the afternoon and the light was pretty flat) and get rid of a few power lines. There are palm trees and power lines everywhere down there.. C & C is welcome - I'd be interested in knowing how to brighten those colors when the picture is taken. (It was 102 when this picture was taken - walking back from the pool - I'm ready for summer!!!)