Two Plus One
That’s a curious title… isn’t this a picture of three trees? At first glance it is. And in our fast paced world, that is all most people will give this picture and even the real scene. A quick glance… “Oh, that’s nice”… and then move on. But when you slow down and let the picture sink in a little, you notice the larger gap between two of the trees. And once you see it, you cannot “un-see it”. It very clearly changes to a picture of two trees and one tree.
I had a little help in noticing this because I made several images of this scene over the course of several days. I was certain that I wanted a very clear sky with no clouds. I waited until we had two days of clear weather and went out at sunset on the first day to ensure a clear sky for the background. And, initially I thought I was making an image of three trees in an open field. And the first images were in fact three trees… with evenly spaced gaps between them. But on the last day, I changed my tripod location just a little, and the gap on the right opened up. And the picture, and story, completely changed.
I’ve often thought bare winter trees take on human shapes and emotions when you look at them long enough and let your imagination wander. With a little creativity, you might see two parent trees wishing their child tree well as she leaves to go who knows where. It’s a bittersweet scene… the parent trees are proud as they wave to their child. But she already has her back turned and is striding quickly into her future.
Yes, it’s just an imaginative story. But that story never gets created or told if I didn’t spend time shivering in a field at sunset on a cold winter day and move my tripod ten feet to the left.
It’s good to be back out in the field with my camera, with an excuse to notice the little things. I hope you are having a great holiday season and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!