This week I have been looking at bare trees -- a lot. This is a good time to get out and get those shots before spring arrives. Just about an hour ago I noticed buds on the tips of some limbs as I drove by a favorite swampy spot. Redbud trees are blooming -- as well as a couple other trees that I have no clue what they are -- but they are sporting some blooms.
A couple days ago I was out in the back yard -- again -- playing with the Composer -- again. I looked up at the trees at the edge of the woods. The photo is interesting to me. I like the bits of sharpness, blur, and almost the smudge of the tree on the right. Since the tree on the right is so blurred -- it gives me the sense of movement -- like that tree is running away from the other one. The sky was mostly overcast but bright. I blew out the light enough to hide shapes of clouds. The look I wanted was just the bare tree against the background of a blah sky. The tree is the focus not the sky -- and I did not want even a cloud to detract from the tree.
When the end of a season is looming I feel all this pressure to get out and get my photos of the "look" before it is gone. In fall I hustle for the color before the leaves drop. Even after they start to drop -- I hustle for the bits of color left on a tree. In summer you are hunting the least bit of full green foliage or flowers. In the spring you are competing with the time and the life of a bloom. Those cherry trees have a "shelf life." Now I am feeling it (the hurry up thing) for the bare tree photos or photos of the woods without leaves getting in the way. Just the other day I noticed the leaf buds on my clemantis vine.
Spring is coming -- get in those winter photos now -- next thing you know leaves and blooms will be all around you.
2 comments:
Donna, I continue to be inspired by how you can find a positive way to look at things. While we are a looong way from spring here in Michigan, I know that as Spring approaches, I'll be thinking "thank God its over," and the last thing on my mind will be rushing to capture an image before the next season comes. I cannot think of a bare tree image that ever got my blood running. But now I will be looking at them and thinking photographically. And . . . who knows? Keep those images and your enthusiasm coming!
You know what is funny -- I look at the darn trees all winter -- and then when it gets down to the last few days of "bare" I start freaking out that I don't have any time left!
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