Lone Tree at Wind Cave: a good image of this tree has eluded me for several years. I have probably taken hundreds, maybe thousands of images of this tree. However, this image is the first that I really like.
It all started on my first trip to Wind Cave NP in 2008. Wind Cave is just a great park; secluded and quiet with a feeling of remoteness. You can drive through the park on the one gravel road, stop the car, turn off the engine, and hear: nothing, for a moment, then the sounds of nature. It is totally quiet of the sounds of man and screaming with the sounds of pure nature.
Then, I returned twice in 2009, once in 2010, and now once in 2011. Each time capturing images of this lone road tree. Sometimes the sky was not creative, sometimes I did not get the angle, etc. I tried color, HDR , and now B&W. When the composition is off; well, it’s off. Perhaps, my eye for composition is getting better. Perhaps, I just got lucky. Anyway, this image seems better to me.
