Local Trees and Photographs

I took a couple of pictures of trees recently (here and below) and was kind of happy with them- until I saw Alan George's amazing photos of trees also taken in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's not unlike comparing a couple of infield singles to a couple of grand slam home runs off the facade of the original Yankee Stadium. Yeah, it's humbling, but we are comparing apples and oranges- his format, tools and more importantly his vision and intent, are more adept at drawing out the grandeur from within his subject matter. My trees seem uncertain of their very existence; his trees are defiant, sensuous, downright miraculous- like Chareton Heston in The Ten Commandments proclaiming, "Behold!" Still, they are not exotic scenics at grand locales- it's the very fact that most people would pass his photos' subjects without so much as a double take in real life that makes them so special.

And it's often seeing how someone else uniquely and successfully envisions and interprets similar subject matter that has helped keep me passionate about this medium for over thirty years... even if you're only hitting singles.