Helen Stephenson's Australian Pictures - February/March, 2000 - Gum Trees

When I was looking around for a good place to take a telephoto shot of the east side of Mount Barker, I came across this paddock with a lone tree in the middle of the cultivated area. It struck me as photogenic and I took a variety of shots of it, but was disappointed with the results and returned later to take some more shots using a polarising filter. These shots were considerably better, although I don't believe that I have yet taken the definitive shot. Unfortunately it rained before I had a chance to return for a third try and green grass started shooting, which made it impossible to get the earth-sky contrast I was looking for. Watch out for more shots of this tree next time I visit AustraliaJ

This was my definitive picture, with the gum tree on the horizon. Unfortunately, although the shadow moving to the left of the picture would be lost, this would be better shot in the morning, and I only managed to get to this location in the afternoon.

This angle made for a better afternoon photograph, as there was better light on the dry grass and more colour in the sky. A bit of judicious cropping so that the tree wasn't centrally placed in the frame also helped, rendering the image on the right the superior of the two. I would say that this is the best image that I have so far managed to capture.

While photographing my favourite tree, I also turned the camera more to the east, capturing this telephoto view in which the lakes are visible almost on the horizon.