Spring Trees - 50with50 No. 16

Two Trees

This look at two trees in our front yard in spring is the latest entry in the 50with50 series.

The two trees here that are the main subject of the photo are a sweet gum tree on the left and a pine tree on the right. The pine tree is probably obvious, but you might not have recognized the sweet gum tree. Unless, of course, you are closer to it than this photo and can see all of the gumballs hanging from the tree or resting in the grass. If you aren’t familiar with gumballs from a sweet gum tree, they can make a good weapon in a friendly family fight. They can sting a little bit when thrown hard enough.

This photo is actually a couple of weeks old, and the sweetgum tree has several more leaves on it now than it did at the time of this photo. I will take another photo later on to show its progress. After all, these two trees have been the subject of several photos over the years. There was even a photo series called Driveway Views that often included the two trees. Since you can sort of see the driveway in the lower left of this photo, it technically falls into that category, too. It has been interesting to see how the trees have grown over the years.

Other Trees

There are some other trees in the photo, too. Cedar trees are in the background, and a few leafless crepe myrtle trees can be seen as well. After this photo, those crepe myrtle trees started getting their leaves. But then we got a late frost, and the new leaves shriveled up. I am hoping that more leaves grow, and it does look like some are starting to appear again.

I have told the story before, but when we first moved in, those two trees in the photo were the only trees that we had. And they were only as tall as we are. Now, those trees are over 40 feet tall. It is amazing how quickly they grow.

We planted several of the other trees in the yard over the years. It has been a delight to see them grow as well, especially for people like us who do not exactly have green thumbs, or any other green fingers.

Our yard still is not exactly a shady yard, although the larger trees do provide some shade. But we like having them for decoration. And one of these days, maybe in another 20 years, all of these trees that survive will be even taller.

Who knows, we might even plant more!

Bible Verse

And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. - Genesis 1:11-12

About the Photo

This photo was taken at the same time as the Spring Blossoms photo. It was a beautiful spring day, and we were enjoying spending some time in our front yard on that day.

Of particular note on that day were the clouds. You can see here that the clouds were just about perfect. The sky was also a perfect blue. We had been having lots of hazy days. Even though there had been no clouds, there had been a haze present. But on this day it was all perfectly clear, and everything looked fantastic.

Of course, a little bit of processing helped this scene to look even better. Spring trees look great on their own, but they look even better with some work to the photo. That work mainly involved turning down the highlights and bringing up the shadows. I particularly liked how that brought out the texture of the pine needles in the tree. And how it brought out the clouds, too.

As you probably know from this being in the 50with50 series, this photo was taken with a 50mm prime lens. I actually haven’t taken that lens off of the camera lately. I did have to move farther back from the trees than I would with a different focal length lens, but it was worth it. I was actually standing on the front porch for this, in case you were wondering. If the trees get much taller, I might have to move even farther back!

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Aurora HDR. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Sony Alpha A7 II
Lens: SonyFE 50mm f/1.8
Date: April 3, 2020
Location: Home, Williston, Tennessee