Get out and Photograph a Tree!

Get out and photograph a tree because “the world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes”. There’s a tree growing not far from where I live that I must have seen fifty times before noticing it. “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear…” Holmes is my in head again. Just like Watson, I saw this tree but didn’t realize its potential. Or maybe it was the forced confinement of 2021 that made me photograph more locally? Here is the tree taken on my phone, this past summer. Nothing special, you’ll agree, in fact you can barely even see it.

One day, while I was trying to photograph some birch trees that grow behind it (so much more photogenic don’t you know), I was wading through tall grass, stumbling on buried trunks, when I turned around and there it was. This new angle isolated it a bit, so I photographed it and here it is. I like the print, but I don’t love it and it now lives in an old Ilford box along with many friends. I wasn’t standing back far enough for the 150 mm lens – clearly: I didn’t even get the whole tree into the frame. I needed to go back and isolate it more. I should mention that all of my photos here are re-photographed prints, that’s why they may not be perfectly focused corner-to-corner.

I like the lone tree motif in B&W, even though lone trees can be hard to print because an overly bright sky can easily make you under-expose the trunk and bark. Just remember to expose for the shadows! This isn’t exactly a lone tree, but it has a nice shape to it and if I moved back a tad next time, it might just fit into my frame. There was not a lot of room to move around here though.

The tree still didn’t stand out from the background enough. Maybe a different angle could isolate it more? A wider lens would help too, and I had one now, a Schneider Angulon 90mm f/6.8 recently purchased and serviced. I definitely had to get the whole tree in the frame, so I went back and tried from a different angle, looking south this time. From here I could get further back and isolate the tree more, but now there were power lines and other man-made things, and I don’t like those scruffy bushes either.

I think I had just made things worse. I was having trouble with the 90 mm lens too, because you have to get the standards absolutely parallel to be able to focus it to infinity, at least on my Intrepid. I had ruined a few shots already and might have given up on the lens were it not for the occasional absolutely sharp image (and I mean sharp as balls as you’ll see later). I soon learned that a recessed lens board would solve my problems – and it did.

In the meantime I hadn’t forgotten about the tree, which I knew was going to yield something eventually. I just needed the right light and the right conditions, and not all that clutter. Either winter or early spring would probably be best – it would tame some of that long grass too. Winter was coming anyway and in my mind’s eye I decided maybe I needed clearing fog and preferably rime frost. The fog would help isolate the oak from the distant trees and the frost would coat the thin twigs and make them stand out more. I would just have to wait for the right conditions. I made a few botched attempts – I would arrive too late, or the fog was too thin, but on this day (January 9th 2021), it all worked out. I was in position with my Intrepid 4×5, 150 mm lens (no filter), just as the fog was clearing. There was even some rime frost, but I had to be quick, because it usually doesn’t last too long in the sun, which was starting to emerge as the fog lifted. I exposed a sheet of Ilford HP5+ for 1/60 sec at f/45 having metered for incident light with a Sekonic. I was new at large format and wanted to be absolutely sure that the entire scene was in focus – hence the f/45 – and I used some rear tilt to help with that. What you don’t see are the branches sticking into my back as there was not another inch of space. I developed this in D-76 (1:1), 13 min. and printed it on Ilford MGFB paper, 8×10. I plan to make a bigger one soon.

I also tried the 90 mm lens, but couldn’t nail the focus, so I switched to the 150. It was cold, time was against me and I wanted to be completely sure of getting the shot. Although I’m really happy with this print of course I went back. I made another attempt a few days ago this fall. The leaves on this tree just turn brown in the fall, so no problem for black and white. This time I use my 90 mm Angulon in its recessed board. I had loads of time so I made sure to nail the focus. It’s such a sharp lens when all the stars align! I don’t think this print turned out as well as the Winter scene, but as soon as I saw the print, I knew what to do next spring: infrared.

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