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Image of the Week: September 30, 2024
TITLE: Little Babbitt Juniper Tree
DATE TAKEN: December 2009
DESCRIPTION:
Anyone who follows my work knows I love to “shoot” lone trees. Admittedly, it’s one of my inexplicable passions — I am just drawn to them. In December 2009, I had recently started a photography project on Babbitt Ranches. On one of my first adventures on the ranch, I came across this unique little juniper and made several captures. Although they were “ok,” I didn’t fall in love with any of them. So, throughout that project, I visited this little tree occasionally, hoping to get the “money shot.” Unfortunately, after several visits, I never captured what I deemed a presentable image.
Although it’s imperfect, I like the original image I captured.
LESSONS LEARNED:
An excellent composition is not necessarily dependent on other photographic qualities, such as lighting, color, or mood. An image with a great composition can make a presentable image out of a not-quite-good-enough one. I believe that’s the case with this image.
A quality of mine is promptness; Some might call it arriving too early. Excited to capture images, I arrived on location a couple of hours before sunset, about 2:30 PM. (Perhaps that’s a symptom, not a quality.) Eagerly, I set up with the tree as the subject and took several photos. Impatient, I left the location before the Golden Hour, which may have turned an image with an excellent composition into an excellent image!
I am posting this image this week because I have learned more about the power of Adobe Lightroom for post-processing images. For this version of “Little Babbitt Juniper Tree,” I enhanced the composition with simple color and lighting corrections. First, I adjusted the color to balance the reds, greens, and blues. Lastly, I added a small mask to the lower left corner of the image to balance it with the right corner, adding a slight vignette that complements its composition. It’s now at least presentable. Enjoy!
MY GEAR:
This is not the tripod I was using at the time, but it’s my current go-to.
See all of MY GEAR.
