Hello everyone!

Welcome to our new challenge: Challenge #37: "That Solitary Tree"

Our mission is to find "That Solitary Tree" that makes our photos priceless and everlasting.

Be it winter, summer, spring or autumn, there are those trees that stop us in our tracks single-handedly, to take that single shot. So, please share with us... : ))

Looking forward to all your shots!

Yildiz

Specifications:
* The challenge will end on 03 March 2011.
* You can enter with as many photos as you like.
* Please give a name to your photo.
* Feel free to go as creative as you like or to stick with the classical look. : )

Good luck!

Indeed a glowing golden light, Tom.

A 'heart-brightening' start from you... : )

It must be a wonderfull feeling to stretch one's legs while sittting or lying on that bench and watching the extending valley beneath as it reflects the mood of the sky.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

This is my entry: 'Unlucky no. 7'

In the southern part of Portugal, cork is a very important export product. Due to the unique climate where sweet water, salt, hot air and a moist climate meet, the Cork Oak flourishes. Once every 9 years the bark of the Cork Oak fully regrows itself and local farmers harvest the bark. To keep track of which tree was harvested and when, all trees are numbered with the year when the bark was harvested.

Although it was half October already, the whole north side of mount Foia near Monchique was blooming with flowers and lush green trees. Except for this one Cork Oak. It was the only Cork Oak tree we've found along the whole road which ran down the north side of the mountain. And although it stood in a lively forest among much green, stripped from it's bark, tagged like it was an number and without any of it's species nearby it was alone... solitary...

Monkey Pod tree in Hawaii

Stopped me in my tracks alright! I was on a bike ride one morning when I saw this. I used a DSC-TX7 in Backlight HDR mode (due to bright sky), vignetting added in PP.

Oak in the mist

A900 + 24-70 zeiss

Exposure 0.013 sec (1/80)
Aperture f/6.3
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0/10 EV
Flash Flash did not fire

One tree at the bay of Phaselis, Antalya - two photographs, the entry shot is the wide angle, the other shot is to show the situation. From the shore, shooting with the 70-300mm G at 130mm, I could see this tree and the rocks, and I could also see where the sun was coming from - so I made my way to the rocks and shot from the other side of the tree using the 12-24mm Sigma at 12mm.

I have remark that these trees are awesome each in their own right.

You made some good choices everyone!

Don't hesitate to upload more than one photo as we proceed in time. Phtographers have a special eye for solitary trees indeed!


Thanks all!


Yildiz

All of the images here are really great. What a very good subject Yildiz . Trees have such interesting shapes. I think we must all be drawn to them as subjects especially when isolated and able to show off their form.

The first one here is from January 2009. A frosty dawn in a field of stuble near Pershore in Worcestershire.

Frosty Dawn Tree by Birm, on Flickr

Secondly a more recent picture of a late summer / early autumn apple tree.

Apple Tree by Birm, on Flickr

Both taken with the A100.

Sheep hoping lightning won't strike twice.

Camera Sony DSLR-A900
Exposure 0.01 sec (1/100)
Aperture f/5
Focal Length 100 mm
ISO Speed 200
Exposure Bias 0/10 EV
Flash Flash did not fire

Thank you, Birma.

Indeed they present themselves as good photography subjects and your quest for some yielded very impressive ones.

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Caporip, that's a nice one for thinking right out of the box for going for a burnt, dead tree but no less impressive or 'lifeless' a sculpture that shines in the middle of where it once lived just like what surrounds it now.

There's a lot to learn from the perception of a photographer; each one looks at life with such different dynamic reasons! : ) And it just shows in the photos...


Yildiz

This one is really nice!

Thank you Henry - much appriacted . This was a shot I revisited as I thought that my PP skills had improved since I originally took and processed the shot. That, and having a new version of Elements . It is sometimes nice to be able to go back and improve on your work - the wonders of RAW files and improving PP software.

I took this pictures during a tea break in the Sahara desert, in between Zouerat and Bir Moghrein, Mauritania. This tree doesn't looks solitary, because you can see a couple of other trees in the back...


But you'll understand better this tree "solitude" after seen this photograph I took 10 minutes after: