Tree Cemetery

Driving home from Austin Tuesday, I was looking for dead trees. Now that I am actually taking pictures, my awareness has increased dramatically. Most of the trees that I photographed I had noticed before, not this one.

I was coming out of a river bottom and just happen to glance off to my left at the last second and I spotted this incredible sight in the distance. I made a U-turn and headed back to the tree. I parked my truck walked up the hill to the fence line and stared in amazement at what was before me. This incredibly inspiring tree, standing alone, with a cemetery right behind it! When I first spied the tree I could not see the tombstones behind it as my vantage point from the road was too low. As I stood at the fence line I knew my camera would not zoom close enough to frame the shot properly. I am very leery of hopping fences, even though all I want to do is take a few photos, yet this tree called to me. I surveyed the pasture to make sure there were no critters to contend with, and over the fence I went.

As I got closer to the tree the beauty and power really began to stand out. The contrast and texture was so rich I was completely taken over by the sight. I framed it up from 3 different angles and took 15 shots. I finished turned my camera off, and started walking back to the truck. When I approached the fence line I turned to look at the tree one more time. It was irresistible. I turned the camera on, set it to color, and snapped one more shot, a reference of what I first saw.