Cypress Tree Root

Concentrating on the details in a scene requires me to do two things that photographing the overall landscape doesn’t do. First, it forces me to look at things in new and unique ways.  Instead of looking at something and seeing it for what it is (a tree, for example), I have to see the pattern of lines formed by the limbs or the texture of tree bark.  Second, I have to slow down.  Because these kinds of details are so easy for me to overlook, I have to take my time and really study what’s in front of me.  While this approach is certainly more challenging for me, I have also found that it is a more enjoyable, relaxing, and rewarding image-making process, and I am often very pleased with the pictures I make.

Slowing down and finding interesting details was how this image came to be. I hadn’t visited Pinnacle Mountain State Park in quite some time, so I decided to make the trip one recent morning.  With it being early February, I knew I would come home disappointed if I went out with the intention of shooting the “grand” landscape.  So, I decided to change my focus and look for and photograph the details that I would normally not think about, such as textures, colors, and lines.

The Kingfisher Trail is a ½-mile paved loop trail that stretches along part of the Little Maumelle River. It is an easy trail that I can normally walk in about10 to 15 minutes.  But, since I was taking my time, it took me well over an hour to make the circuit.  Along the trail, several large bald cypress trees, estimated to be between 500 and 600 years old, line the river bank.  Upon coming to this section of the trail, I stopped and spent time looking for interesting patterns, colors, and lines.  After about 15 minutes of moving up and down the bank, I spotted this cypress tree root and was immediately fascinated by its rough texture, gentle bend, and contrasting colors.

Because of the root’s location, I had to shoot from a position that was not only a farther distance than I wanted to be but that also prevented me from keeping the camera’s sensor parallel to the plane of the root. In order to compensate, I used my 100-400mm lens at it longest focal length to frame the exact section of the root I wanted to capture.  I then stopped the lens down to its smallest aperture to ensure complete depth of field.  This required a shutter speed of half a second, but this wasn’t a concern since there wasn’t anything moving in the scene.  I could have used an even longer shutter speed, and everything would still have been sharp.  In the final image, I added a little saturation and contrast to further emphasize the subject root and to create a picture that more closely resembled what I saw with my eyes.

Settings:  400mm, 0.5 sec, f/40, ISO 400