Returning readers will recognize these trees; the Eales trees, which stand along the first quarter of the Blueberry trail at the preserve. I photograph these trees each time I visit that trail. It has become a sort of aesthetic compulsion, adjusting the framing and vantage point, in different seasons and lighting conditions, to try and best capture them.
Their draw is a bit of a mystery, even to me – a small copse of trees growing from the barrens, there doesn’t appear to be anything special about them. But some combination of their form and figure against the landscape endears them to me.
On this visit, I was hiking up the trail just before sunset, intent on capturing the evening’s winter light. I’ve shared other photos from that visit recently, and have a few more yet to share. The first photo was the trip up the trail, with the light already taking on a golden cast, while shadows thicken on their backs.
The second photo was from the hike back down, on the front edge of twilight. Of the two, this one is my preference; the muted cool tones, the light upon the trunks while the surrounding landscape falls into shadow. It’s a more subtle capture, a truthful representation of that moment in time.
If you continue to return, I’m sure you’ll see these trees again. The barrens is a difficult landscape to photograph in many ways, but I continue to visit it, exploring and digging deeper, trying to unlock it.