Survivor

— For this week’s assignment in my photography challenge group, participants were asked to submit a photo using the high-key photography technique. In plain terms, high-key photography is one that exhibits little or no shadows and is mostly bright. The end result is a photo that appears very airy and bright. This technique can be used indoors and outdoors, as well. Even though the final photo can be in color or black and white, it seems that a black and white photograph lends itself to a more striking result. The above photo is what I selected for my challenge submission.

I spent the week photographing a variety of themes. Nevertheless, my very first subject turned out to be the one I chose to submit for the class. After several different compositions and locations, that is the one I kept coming back to every time. It was simple and not cluttered and got the viewers’ eyes to see the subject clearly. Once again, it proved to me that familiarity with your environment is your friend.

I had seen this tree many times before. It is right near the lot where I park my car when I go biking in one of the metro parks in Austin, Texas. It has always stood out in my eyes because it is the only tree on that grassy field in the Northeast Metropolitan Park. For now, it has survived the effects of progress and has not been cut down to make room for another sports field. Now, since this is an urban park, I had to be very careful to compose my photo such that I would eliminate power lines and other signs of civilization. I paid very close attention to what was in my viewfinder before I made the photo. I did not want to spend time at home manipulating and erasing things just to make the photo more pleasing. I wanted to get it as close to a final product as possible with little post-processing time involved. I walked around the tree and paid attention to the shadows I wanted and also the things I did not want in the photo. There is no cropping whatsoever in this photo. For editing, I used Lightroom only and took advantage of the Basic panel for black and white conversion and overall tone adjustments. I only used four localized masks to even out the skylight and bottom third of the photo. It helped that the sky was cloudless.

The next two photos were my next favorites. The first was also shot on the same day and at the same park. What caught my eyes here were the shadows surrounding the area. The tree in the foreground appears to be leading all the others and shows great strength in its branches. There are clear signs of damage throughout the ages, and it only enhances the tree’s strong structure and surviving character.

Finally, this last photo was made along the banks of the San Gabriel River in Georgetown, Texas. This is no longer a survivor. I could not see any signs that this tree is still alive. Whether by aging or by natural phenomena, this tree seems to be reaching up to its surrounding family. It is the last attempt at survival but likely without any positive results.