UN-LABELING TREES

We restrict, stifle, our creativity when we label the things we see around us. A tree is a good example.

The label "tree" doesn't sound very appealing in terms of something to photograph. However, when we peal the label(s) off, we begin to see what's left when it's no longer a tree.

If we photograph colors, shapes, designs, texture, lines, patterns, and even feelings, all of a sudden we see much more than a tree or trees. When we take that approach to photographing trees, or anything else for that matter, the trees themselves become secondary, thus resulting in more interesting images. If it isn't a tree, what's left to be?

This month I am sharing what I have done with trees when I don't see them as "trees." You'll see what's left to be.

This scene looked better in black and white. There's a feeling; a mood here. Is that a path? A trail? Where does it lead. Just those few thoughts take this image beyond "trees."

When it comes to photography, the eyes see too much, which leaves us waiting for something to hit us between the eyes and yell, "Here I am!" What we're not looking at is often more interesting than what we are looking at. 

My intuition told me there was something down there. I had to walk down this slope to really see what my intuition was trying to tell me.

 

The winter season exposed this tree's unique personality--all those extensions and branches reaching out in all directions. The mood led me to change my WB to florescent, which gave me the cool blue hues.

I was leading a winter workshop in Rocky Mountain National Park. All my students were walking around this tree, looking for something to hit them between the eyes. Only one  student stopped to see what what had caught my attention. I explained that this would be a good B&W image, especially if we under exposed it. I underexposed it by 2 stops, or 200% less than what my built-in light meter thought I needed for a "correct" exposure. The one student followed suit, saying that he was glad I had pointed it out.

I was shooting around the Maroon Bells area in Colorado in the fall. I found this reflection of aspens in the lake. We miss what we don't see. 

I found this awesome grove of aspens between Aspen, Colorado and the ghost town of 
Ashcroft. The repeating patterns of vertical whites really appealed to me. I could have converted this to a B&W, but I liked the contrast between nature's greens and colorless whites. 

This was an amazing find. I went out there to photograph an old church. I had photographed it before, but I was curious as to what it might look like under different lighting. Across the old church was a lake, with this great composition just waiting for me. 

I was leading another workshop in Rocky Mountain National Park. Now, for this kind of image, you really need to be looking at what you're not looking at. I know, that sentence sounds crazy, right. I stared out onto Sprague Lake and saw some reflections in it. I decided to do something I am known to do. I knew I was going to photograph the reflections, but show them upside down! That is what you are seeing. The bottom sliver is the real landscape; all that green area is a reflection of the trees above the landscape--the whole thing turned upside down, or right side up, depending on how you see it. 

I'll conclude this series with this extremely interesting, colorful, and surreal image. I saw this scene from the corner of my eye as I drove between Hot Springs, Arkansas and Benton, Arkansas, on Hwy 5. I just had to turn around and get a closer look. In many respects, trees look more interesting in winter--you see branches reaching for each other instead of a sea of green leaves. The floor of reds and yellows were a great addition to the trees.

So, next time you go out with your camera, look for shapes, forms, patterns, lines, colors, and, yes, mood. Let the trees, as we know them, be the backdrop to everything else. Have fun! 

All images on my blogs are available as fine art prints. 

Contact me for private 1-on1 ZOOM lessons. 

Eli