I couldn’t make this photo without thinking of Monte Stevens and his recent beautiful “lone tree” photos from the Colorado Plains. I couldn’t recreate the feeling Monte gets in his photos of the wide open spaces so I had to toss in a few more trees and a herd of cattle to add some “pop.” :-)
I initially drove by this scene on the way to another destination. It was too late to stop on that first pass but I was prepared on the way back.
Don’t you love finding these new vistas that say, “you have to stop and make a new picture”? Those clouds were a terrific gift.
Those clouds were certainly made to order for this photo. I usually don’t see these scenes until it’s too late to stop so I often turn around and come back for them.
I love images of hardwood trees without their leaves as you get to see their incredibly complex structure.
Hi Steve, it is amazing how they are so efficient at getting every square inch of exposure for their leaves. Sometimes I don’t think we truly understand half of what really goes on around us.
You may not have gotten these perfect clouds on your initial visit here, so maybe it’s best you caught it on the way back. Nice shot.
Ken, thanks, and that’s true. I don’t remember if those clouds were there or not on the first pass.
It’s hard to beat Monte’s “Lone Tree” style of photography, but you did a good job in adding those extra ‘pop’ elements! :) It’s good that you circled back to this one!
Paul, thanks. It’s near impossible to match Monte’s wide open spaces or the plains lighting he’s got in his photos.
I like the expanse of sky. It makes a fine pastoral landscape with the pasture land and the cattle.
Hi Don, thanks.
Sorry for the late comment but been a tad busy and on the move. The wide open vistas was one of the things I missed when I was living the Ohio Valley. And, as Steve mentioned the complexity of the hardwood trees in the east was astonishing to me. Seeing for any distance when trees have their foliage is very limited so when winter comes and the leaves drop it really transforms the scene.
I too think you have a fine image here with wonderful blue sky and a splattering of clouds. Add the other trees and those clouds and we have a complete image. Just the way it’s suppose to be.
Monte, I guess for the East this is “wide open space” but totally on a different scale then that of the west. Thanks!