DAY 104

NATURE & LANDSCAPES

The Tree

AN EVERGREEN SUBJECT

Sometimes the most simple of subjects make the best photographs. Less is more, or to paraphrase a Joyce Kilmer poem: I think that I shall never see a photograph as lovely as a tree.

One particularly beautiful tree stands near my home and has become one of my favorite subjects to photograph. Trees are generally taken for granted, and in a place where lofty forests once stood there is something heroic about a lone tree, standing as a sentinel against the elements. With sweeping branches, the tree presents a visage that is unique. Whether covered with the green leaves of summer or frost in winter, barely visible on a foggy day or lit by the failing rays of a setting sun, it always photographs well.

Photo © Bill Diller.

It may seem foolish to go on about a simple tree, but to again borrow (and again, butcher) Joyce Kilmer: Photographs are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree. —WTD