One foggy morning,
while driving through a rural area, I passed a
small farm that had a magnificent bare tree in the
front yard. Through the mist, it seemed to have an
ethereal look that beckoned to me. In my mind,
though still traveling at 40 mph, I saw the tree as
simply a silhouette, with the shape of the tree
being the subject of a photograph. I happened to
have my camera and a single lens, the Canon 24-105
IS, with me in the car. I have very rarely stopped
to take photos while on the road, but, in this
instance, the shape of the tree in the mist was
compelling me to turn around and go back.
Two or three minutes later I was back at the farm. I experimented with several different focal lengths, but kept returning to nearly filling the frame with the tree in order to accentuate its shape. Finding myself without a tripod, I braced myself against another nearby tree. When I finally got everything, including myself, into position, I clicked the shutter several times using f8 with a shutter speed of 1/640 second and, after looking at the LCD, I knew it was my turn for the ‘Whoopee Dance”.
After getting home and processing the images, I tried various crops to further accentuate the tree’s shape, ultimately choosing a nearly square format for the presentation. I made several adjustments in Photoshop in order to have the tree appear as the silhouette I had envisioned. I thought that the green colored grass detracted from the main idea of the image, which was purely shape, and therefore converted the photograph to black and white and applied a sepia tone. It expressed just what I wanted it to! And there was an added treat. When seen enlarged, there was a big crow that I hadn’t previously noticed sitting on one of the branches, as if posing for the camera. Are you allowed two ‘Whoopee Dances’ for one image?
Two or three minutes later I was back at the farm. I experimented with several different focal lengths, but kept returning to nearly filling the frame with the tree in order to accentuate its shape. Finding myself without a tripod, I braced myself against another nearby tree. When I finally got everything, including myself, into position, I clicked the shutter several times using f8 with a shutter speed of 1/640 second and, after looking at the LCD, I knew it was my turn for the ‘Whoopee Dance”.
After getting home and processing the images, I tried various crops to further accentuate the tree’s shape, ultimately choosing a nearly square format for the presentation. I made several adjustments in Photoshop in order to have the tree appear as the silhouette I had envisioned. I thought that the green colored grass detracted from the main idea of the image, which was purely shape, and therefore converted the photograph to black and white and applied a sepia tone. It expressed just what I wanted it to! And there was an added treat. When seen enlarged, there was a big crow that I hadn’t previously noticed sitting on one of the branches, as if posing for the camera. Are you allowed two ‘Whoopee Dances’ for one image?
