Challenge #37: "That Solitary Tree" - Winner Chosen

[InTheSky]

I'm feeling this three is thinking about something :



And I can call that one, the poor little baby tree :


Frank

[bakubo]

Here are a couple of pictures of a dead tree near to where I live that I regulary pass by. It is not completely solitary, but I think it looks isolated as all of the other trees are still very much alive!

I especially like that first one. You have found your calling, lots of great tree photos!

[bakubo]

Here is but my humble entry, from last year at a local park.

Nice photo! Great sky.

[bakubo]

Buddhist monk resting against a tree in the hilltribe area of northern Thailand

[Birma]

I like the background in that one Henry - it sets the tree in context.

I have looked at it for some minutes but I can't see the monk . I have this sort of suspicion that this is a 'Grasshopper' moment and I am not looking at the picture correctly or something .

[Juanito200]

Continued great shots.
Thanks for the compliments Birma and Henry. That shot is one of my favorites from last year.
Birma- your shot with the frosted stubble is fantastic.
Frank- I like the one with the tree just sticking above the snow. Very solitary indeed.
Henry- Finally, after looking for a while at the photo, I realize that the 'monk' is the green to the right of the tree! Very cool!!

[aster]

Henry, wonderful spotting!

Such a peaceful green soul he is! It's like a real giant human monk sat there and finally became 'one' with nature through an intensive awakening of the inner truth during his last meditation.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

[Birma]

Henry, wonderful spotting!

Such a peaceful green soul he is! It's like a real giant human monk sat there and finally became 'one' with nature through an intensive awakening of the inner truth during his last meditation.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

Ah

Thanks to John and Yildiz I have taken the first steps on the road to enlightenment.

[pakodominguez]

Really like that last huge African tree Pako - interesting to see some African trees.

I was thinking about the school built under that huge tree... and I recall some readings on history of religions (my fvorite author is Mircea Elidae) and the tree as a Hierophany and the "Axis Mundi" (REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_mundi). Then, you have Cameron's Avatar who rescued the (that) tree as a symbol of the link between earth and heaven/elders/paradigm.

[aster]

n

Really like that last huge African tree Pako - interesting to see some African trees.

I was thinking about the school built under that huge tree... and I recall some readings on history of religions (my fvorite author is Mircea Elidae) and the tree as a Hierophany and the "Axis Mundi" (REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_mundi). Then, you have Cameron's Avatar who rescued the (that) tree as a symbol of the link between earth and heaven/elders/paradigm.

A fine analogy and one I find to be credible.

But I remember that in the Avatar movie the Home tree and the sacred life tree were destroyed by the humans because of Jake.

He changed later though. Not without many precious losses that were important...

Yildiz

[pakodominguez]

n

Really like that last huge African tree Pako - interesting to see some African trees.

I was thinking about the school built under that huge tree... and I recall some readings on history of religions (my favorite author is Mircea Elidae) and the tree as a Hierophany and the "Axis Mundi" (REF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_mundi). Then, you have Cameron's Avatar who rescued the (that) tree as a symbol of the link between earth and heaven/elders/paradigm.

A fine analogy and one I find to be credible.

hey, we are talking science here!

But I remember that in the Avatar movie the Home tree and the sacred life tree were destroyed by the humans because of Jake.

He changed later though. Not without many precious losses that were important...

Yildiz

Well, Avatar is a modern-western movie that borrows (steal...) images from the old times: myths. The Axis Mundi is an ancient (and not geographical related) myth, that exist today, in diverse manifestations, in several parts of the world. In the Central Andes (Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia) it will be a specific mountain: the Apu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apu_%28god%29), in Africa it will mostly be a tree (even in places were Muslim religion took over the local belief) and in NYC it can be the Sky scrappers!

I think Cameron took that image in order to recreate the Ecologist discourse behind his movie. Remember that he already did it with Alien! in a darker world...

Trees and mountains are nicer...

[aster]

Absolute science, I know.

I know what you mean and find the subject intiguing. I'll start with the links you provided and take a look at how many different religions and creeds draw their rituals and life structuring from it.

Thanks,

Yildiz

[UrsaMajor]

I think Cameron took that image in order to recreate the Ecologist discourse behind his movie. Remember that he already did it with Alien! in a darker world...

FWIW, Cameron appears to have taken the plot for "Alien" from one of the short stories in "Voyage of the Space Beagle" by A. E. Van Vogt, which was published about 1939-40. The specific story was "Ixtl", which had a plot so much like "Alien" in so many ways that I have read that van Vogt successfully filed a legal suit for payment.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

[UrsaMajor]

Here is an image that will never win any prizes for being pretty, but I think that it does meet the Challenge definition. This was an experimental shot that I took at the end of December on the top of South Mountain, near Phoenix Arizona. I noticed this almost-dead tree with the stark outlines of cell-phone towers behind it, and decided to attempt to capture a bit of "Gothic horror" feel in the scene.

It was just after sunset, so everything was in shadow and I put a flash at ground level looking up at the tree in an attempt to get cliche lighting of the tree with the towers silhouetted against the sky behind it. The result did not really come out as well as I had hoped, but I consider it a good learning experience and I have no regret about attempting to capture the image I had visualized.

With best wishes,
- Tom -

KM 7D, Sony 18-250mm lens at 18mm
ISO 200, f:5.6, 1/80 second

[mvanrheenen]

Hi Tom,

Although technically the shot didn't came out the way you planned, the story it tells did in my opinion.

Mark