How do you approach composition when photographing trees?

[Toffle]

Toffle, your DeLaurier Trail Marsh 3 fits in well, your poetic approach shows. Trees are not an exclusive club. So many of us love them for deep reasons.

Thanks, Bill. I remember the (dismal) day I shot that scene, and remember sweating my man parts off in the darkroom trying to bring some light to the details of an otherwise dark print.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Vaughn]

Here is one of mine which won first prize in a competition. The prize... to climb a tree!

Steve.

Congrats! FINEST KIND!

 

[Bill Burk]

Here is one of mine which won first prize in a competition. The prize... to climb a tree!

View attachment 80043

http://www.goodleaf.co.uk/


Steve.

Wow, safe tree climbing. It's necessary... I won't let my kids do what I did. But that is the way to go! All fun, no dread for fear of life and limb.

 

[Steve Smith]

The competition was judged based on a 1000 pixel image posted on their website so they were quite surprised when I presented them with a mounted 12" x 16" print.


I made very slow progress climbing up the rope. Meanwhile, a ten year old girl on the other side of the tree went to the top and back down again three times whilst I struggled!


Steve.

 

[Vaughn]

Wow, safe tree climbing. It's necessary... I won't let my kids do what I did. But that is the way to go! All fun, no dread for fear of life and limb.

I started taking my three boys hiking in the redwoods when they were 4 yrs old or so. Between climbing trees in the woods and rocks at the beach, they got quite a bit of experience, both in climbing and in falling (okay, their mom was never with us...LOL!). All the broken bones and injuries requiring stitches happened at home or at the playgrounds of the school and parks...not out in the 'wilds'!

 

[Black Dog]

Meddle not with the affairs of APUGGers

Yes, I was VERY upset there was NO Bombadil. He was the MOST important character in the whole series for me... the ring had NO power over him. How they could have left that out was shocking. The Ents are the wise-old caretakers of the forests. To make a mockery of them was blasphemy! grrrr! Anyway I grew up with the books and read them cover to cover and how many sets were just destroyed... should have gone with the hardcovers. So I was really picky about the film....


I love that pic, Vaughn, really puts humans in perspective to those humble giants...("puny, defenseless bipeds," as Tom Baker said.) I can see the 3rd one Stone but on an iPhone it's probably too small for you, he is swallowed up by the shear size of the 'Ent' snag being in dark clothes but you can make the head out.

All these trees and forests are wonderful!

They left Tom Bombadil out of the BBC Radio adaptation in the 80s too [it's still a classic though]

 

[Truzi]

They left Tom Bombadil out of the BBC Radio adaptation in the 80s too [it's still a classic though]

I always preferred Tim Benzedrine.

You know, after following this thread for a couple days, I must admit I'm noticing trees more and thinking about how to do them justice on film. Unfortunately, this is while I am driving. I will have to try some "tree" pictures this spring and experiment on how to compose them. Composition is one of my weak points in general.

 

[VaryaV]

I'm a bit behind developing so my shots from last weekend are still latent images... hopefully I'll get them developed and printed before the MSA is finished 'cause I used a cheap camera for some...

Toffle, your DeLaurier Trail Marsh 3 fits in well, your poetic approach shows. Trees are not an exclusive club. So many of us love them for deep reasons.

Some of my fascination with trees comes from my childhood. I used to climb trees and make treehouses, chase snakes out to the thinnest branches, fall down into beds of soft nettle. I'd walk barefoot under Live Oaks, climb up to check out galls and ants.

Ralph,

You don't have to change your approach, I am a hunter, I rarely "make" photographs. But I understand the difference and we need both kinds. Instead of making Bonsai, you can go out and get the trees and bring them indoors...

View attachment 80042

Really like the way you lit this, Bill. Very unusual composition that works beautifully!

Here is one of mine which won first prize in a competition. The prize... to climb a tree!

View attachment 80043

http://www.goodleaf.co.uk/


Steve.

A belated congratulations, Steve. Doesn't a tree like that automatically beckon to bring out the kid in us again? Very nice capture.


My cherry trees are just starting to bud. (they're saplings I planted before xmas) and we're due for another frost mid-week.

I am really enjoying this thread too!

 

[Toffle]

When I see birches bend to left and right
Across the lines of straighter darker trees,
I like to think some boy's been swinging them.
But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay
As ice-storms do.

Dead Link Removed

One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

 

[Black Dog]

I love birches....I used to know a girl called Abi Birch...

 

[Vaughn]

I love birches....I used to know a girl called Abi Birch...

Better than a last name of 'Normal"!

 

[winger]

I saw this thread when it was only a page and told myself I'd check it later and then kept forgetting. Wow! And trees are possibly my favorite non-human, non-canine thing. Though "thing" doesn't cover it.
As a child, I climbed every tree that I could get into. My mom even helped. I have never broken anything doing it either (actually, I've only ever broken a toe bone and that was either in soccer or karate, wasn't sure which 'cause they were back-to-back), nor ever fallen out of a tree. A friend and I climbed the trees behind her house so far up I could see over their roof (two story house). My grandmother even mentioned my tree climbing abilities in a paper she wrote for a local group she was in. Next to the porch on my parents' house was a small group of yew trees (3, maybe?) and the area around them was known as "Fairyland". This was even before I read Hobbit and all the other fairy, elf, etc.. books I could find (I also grew up just one block from the public library). I can't wait to teach Nate how to climb trees (yes, I've already been in one of the trees here, too).
I've been mildly picked on in a photo club because I would go to Ohiopyle State Park (known for waterfalls) and take pictures of tree roots. I have an affinity for trees and leaves.
As for leaving out Tom Bombadil - it's been awhile since I re-read Fellowship, but I think my favorite poem is read in that scene (includes the line "Not all those who wander are lost", which has to be my epitaph eventually).

I've found a very cool tree not far from here - I just have to get there when the light is right.

 

[Toffle]

I've found a very cool tree not far from here - I just have to get there when the light is right.

...and that is sometimes harder than we think. A couple of years ago, I found the "perfect" little glen in the woods of Point Pelee National Park not more than two miles from my home. Unfortunately, it was also the rainiest September in recent memory. Although I could envision where the light should fall, I never got the shot as I saw it in my mind's eye, despite visiting the site almost daily for what seemed weeks. Eventually the seasons changed and I moved on to other subjects.

 

[VaryaV]

I saw this thread when it was only a page and told myself I'd check it later and then kept forgetting. Wow! And trees are possibly my favorite non-human, non-canine thing. Though "thing" doesn't cover it.
As a child, I climbed every tree that I could get into. My mom even helped. I have never broken anything doing it either (actually, I've only ever broken a toe bone and that was either in soccer or karate, wasn't sure which 'cause they were back-to-back), nor ever fallen out of a tree. A friend and I climbed the trees behind her house so far up I could see over their roof (two story house). My grandmother even mentioned my tree climbing abilities in a paper she wrote for a local group she was in. Next to the porch on my parents' house was a small group of yew trees (3, maybe?) and the area around them was known as "Fairyland". This was even before I read Hobbit and all the other fairy, elf, etc.. books I could find (I also grew up just one block from the public library). I can't wait to teach Nate how to climb trees (yes, I've already been in one of the trees here, too).
I've been mildly picked on in a photo club because I would go to Ohiopyle State Park (known for waterfalls) and take pictures of tree roots. I have an affinity for trees and leaves.
As for leaving out Tom Bombadil - it's been awhile since I re-read Fellowship, but I think my favorite poem is read in that scene (includes the line "Not all those who wander are lost", which has to be my epitaph eventually).

I've found a very cool tree not far from here - I just have to get there when the light is right.

Great post, Bethe!

I used to climb all the time too, forts, tree houses... A few nicks and scrapes nothing more serious. I love it! Definitely climb the tree, you won't have lost your touch!!!!

oh, I remember me and my best girl friend hauling car mats up the pines, the kind that fold and making rocket ship panels in the trees ... that was fun and sappy too!

 

[winger]

Great post, Bethe!

I used to climb all the time too, forts, tree houses... A few nicks and scrapes nothing more serious. I love it! Definitely climb the tree, you won't have lost your touch!!!!

Once it's not below freezing, I do plan on it. And maybe take a camera into the tree with me. Our house in PA doesn't have many trees, but this one has several. I have very fond memories of the trees in my grandparents back yard.

And I totally understand, Toffle, about it being hard to get the light just right. It takes study to find the right time 'cause the light is so different based on the season. I'm sure it could take several tries to get something I'm happy with. I might just do a study of the tree and get different angles in different light just to show the differences possible.

For many years, my mom has wanted to find a lone tree in a field to photograph in each of the four seasons. She's been looking since I was a kid and hasn't found the right one.

 

[StoneNYC]

Once it's not below freezing, I do plan on it. And maybe take a camera into the tree with me. Our house in PA doesn't have many trees, but this one has several. I have very fond memories of the trees in my grandparents back yard.

And I totally understand, Toffle, about it being hard to get the light just right. It takes study to find the right time 'cause the light is so different based on the season. I'm sure it could take several tries to get something I'm happy with. I might just do a study of the tree and get different angles in different light just to show the differences possible.

For many years, my mom has wanted to find a lone tree in a field to photograph in each of the four seasons. She's been looking since I was a kid and hasn't found the right one.

That's cute (the mom story).

 

[Vaughn]

...and that is sometimes harder than we think. A couple of years ago, I found the "perfect" little glen in the woods of Point Pelee National Park not more than two miles from my home. Unfortunately, it was also the rainiest September in recent memory. Although I could envision where the light should fall, I never got the shot as I saw it in my mind's eye, despite visiting the site almost daily for what seemed weeks. Eventually the seasons changed and I moved on to other subjects.

I am more of a 'finder' than a 'waiter'. I do have trees I go back to and check on the light, but mostly I just wander about looking at the light, and when a composition moves me, I set up the camera.

This one has trees in it -- and a waterfall, but it is more about the falling light. In my wanderings (first and only time I have been in this spot), I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was a bit worried because two women were showed up and were hanging out in 'my' scene as I was setting up. But they let on their own soon enough and the light only got better as I waited!

5x7 carbon print. (Columbia River Gorge, OR)

 

[Vaughn]

And since roots were mentioned...

An 8x10 platinum print of my boys and a redwoods tree root wad. I believe they were 8 years old at the time.

 

[Jim Noel]

I approach a tree like a portrait of a person or animal. The same with any plant.

 

[StoneNYC]

I am more of a 'finder' than a 'waiter'. I do have trees I go back to and check on the light, but mostly I just wander about looking at the light, and when a composition moves me, I set up the camera.

This one has trees in it -- and a waterfall, but it is more about the falling light. In my wanderings (first and only time I have been in this spot), I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was a bit worried because two women were showed up and were hanging out in 'my' scene as I was setting up. But they let on their own soon enough and the light only got better as I waited!

5x7 carbon print. (Columbia River Gorge, OR)

Wow Vaughn! That's amazing, you got those highlights perfect, doesn't look tbe slightest bit blown out, yet the shadows are so detailed, I'm beginning to think more and more that I don't know the faintest bit about photography and that I'm just fiddling about in the dark even when it takes me an hour to shoot 1 image it appears I'm a lost fart in the dark...

 

[Toffle]

Beautiful, Vaughn!

 

[Alan Klein]

My approach is to get close. I could feel the strength hugging this baby before I shot it.

 

[StoneNYC]

My approach is to get close. I could feel the strength hugging this baby before I shot it.
View attachment 80190

Wow that's a beautiful twist in the trunk. Portra?

 

[Toffle]

Beautiful, Alan. I love the variety of approaches to photographing something as ubiquitous as trees. I don't know who said it, but it may apply here.

There are more ways to play Hamlet than there are actors to play him.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Black Dog]

I've just been enjoying 'Landscapes' by Ray Metzker [an ex student of Harry Callahan].....some lovely subtle images in that.