After the Fall (Digital Fine Art):

I have this thing for "Lonely Tree's".  I don't know what it is about them.  When I see a fantastic specimen standing all alone in defiance of empty space, I'm drawn to it.  Or at least my camera is.  Add a touch of god sky and remove its foliage and I think it is perfect.  Surround it with a field that provides a palette of texture and color and it is awe inspiring.  They are the epitome of chaos.  There is no chirality to it / no mirror image.  A person could spend a lifetime attempting to derive the mathematical equation used to build it and they would not succeed.  Its shape is an amalgam of its genetics, its environment, and a higher power.  Walk closer and the detail of its parts are equally amazing.  A simple photograph simply will not do.  A Digital Fine Art image is only an attempt to do them justice.  I stole the following image near where I have been riding my mountain bike all summer.  I've been waiting months for it to reveal itself to me so that I could steal its image.  When I was a kid, I would have climbed it.  Now I've simply photographed it.  Here is the result....

After the Fall (D3S, ISO400, f/8, HDR, 62mm through Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8)

This image was created from a 5 images (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2 EV) and combined using Nik HDR Efex Pro.  I tossed it into Photoshop CS5 Extended and did some Clone-Stamping, Added Several Textures, Dodging and Burning, Multiple Curves,  Sharpening and Noise Reduction.  I actually desaturated some of the sky to keep it from being blown out.  Make sure you click on the image to see it full size to your monitor.

Until the next image theft,

Enjoy!