Peak
The Famous Maple bursts with color for a couple of days every fall - and photographers line up for an opportunity to photograph it. It's particularly great timi...
Read more
The Famous Maple bursts with color for a couple of days every fall - and photographers line up for an opportunity to photograph it. It's particularly great timing if you can catch it both at peak and while there are leaves on the moss below. I had come this particular day to photograph The Tree with my medium format camera, and snapped this as a whim. I'd forgotten about the file for a year - I found it in my archives and said to myself, "Not too shabby!" I love this tree so much it is literally tattooed on my arm. True story.
Read less
Read less
May, 2014Views
5309
Likes
Awards
People's Choice in AUTUMN TIME Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in One Tree Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Chasing Leaves Photo Contest
Winner in Anything Twisted Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in Unedited Photo Contest Vol3
Featured
Winner in Autumn's Splendor Photo Challenge
Winner in AMAZING TREES Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Superior Skill
Genius
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Top 20 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Categories
PRO+
karensommerslohre
September 16, 2016
Congratulations! I have chosen you as my Winner of my AMAZING TREES Challenge~Your photo is just wonderful!
Platinum
Platinum
Platinum
nasktari23
November 30, 2016
I pretty much have this painting on my wall! I will have to visit! Amazing job.
Platinum
Forrest_Imagery
March 01, 2017
An outstanding shot, full of exquisitely rich colors, textures and forms.
It is excellently composed and lit with superb contrast, luminosity and (de)saturation applied in post-processing.
Congratulations on such a fine image, your many, well-deserved awards and the phenomenal gallery of yours where it is found.
It is excellently composed and lit with superb contrast, luminosity and (de)saturation applied in post-processing.
Congratulations on such a fine image, your many, well-deserved awards and the phenomenal gallery of yours where it is found.
Platinum
Ultimate
Platinum
Platinum
Platinum
RockyS
December 21, 2021
The photo is gorgeous, well executed and your write up gives a personal touch to your efforts. I like all that you do to share your works. Thank you very much.
Ultimate
robdaniel
December 31, 2021
That gold, red and green contrast with the dark of the tree itself, just beautiful!
Platinum
Ultimate
GCallahan
March 24, 2022
There is another Japanese Maple at Reed College you may want to explore in the Fall. It is not as magical as this one but is rather less busy. Head out onto the big lawn in front of the college to find some really beautiful trees there, which can be stunning in the Fall.
PRO+
Ultimate
EmmanuelODonnell
October 13, 2022
First of all congratulations on being the People's Choice! This photo you have taken here is literally THE BEST autumn photo I have ever seen! Everything about it is totally fabulous! And the best thing of all is the the camera managed to capture the amazing RED!!! This photo is tremendous and I hope you get the best awards that are out there for this ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE!!! Keep up the amazing work!
Platinum
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This is the "famous" Japanese Maple in the Portland Japanese Garden, in Portland, Oregon. During the fall, photographers literally line up to shoot this tree.Time
This was early on a fall morning; I had a photography membership to the Garden so I could get in early and have better access. (A photography membership has many benefits, but getting in before opening is a high-point.) Later in the day the grounds keepers clean up the leaves, so you have to get there early in the morning to catch the full blanket on the moss.Lighting
The light was soft from fog and clouds, so this didn't need anything except a slightly longer exposure to get details.Equipment
This is the embarrassing and honest truth: I loaded up my trusty old Nikon F5 with Velvia 50, and my Mamiya RB67 with Velvia, and just grabbed a digital camera for some instant gratification. It was a Pentax K20D with a kit lens, the 18-35. I had just gotten back into photography and didn't have a lot of gear (this was back in 2009) that wasn't film. After some shots on film, and aware I had a dozen photographers behind me all antsy to get their turn, I quickly threw the K20D on the tripod for a few exposures before wandering around to see the rest of the garden. No flash, nothing fancy at all. I didn't even realize it was in jpg from a studio shoot the night before, I was so rushed to fire off a few more shots.Inspiration
I have tried every year since moving to Portland to get MY photo of this tree. I have hundreds of photos - some are amazing, some are awful. It's a challenging subject because it's so popular - and there are only a couple of vantage points from which to shoot it. The only differences you can achieve are trying out different films or techniques, different focal lengths, different times of day or lighting conditions. It's a challenge to go look at the tree and say, "How can I best photograph this tree today?" This tree is really an old friend to a lot of local photographers.Editing
This was actually shot as a jpg - the only post processing was to desaturate the greens a bit, because they were just SO intense. I see a lot of people comment on photos of this tree that the photographer must have saturated it, must have cheated in Photoshop, but this tree is naturally stunning and intense in person, period. It needs no adjustments, except occasionally to tone it down so viewers will believe it's real. Or maybe the magic is in how unreal this very incredible tree is in reality.In my camera bag
Today, I carry a D800 and a back up D700, my trusty and abused 50mm 1.4, a 20mm 2.8 for landscapes, my SB900 flash, a CPL, a 6 stop ND filter. Lots of memory cards, back up batteries, a Snickers bar, a bottle of water. For events I add in a 70-200 2.8, a spare flash, and my tripod, and a reflector, and sometimes Alien Bees and triggers.Feedback
This tree is fairly unchanging - it grows slowly and is shaped by the master gardeners. The world around it changes daily, sometimes minute to minute. You really have to stalk a subject like this, shooting it again and again, looking at it in different lighting conditions, different times of day, different seasons, sometimes even on partially cloudy days it can go from bright to overcast in a moment, changing the scene entirely. You have to be quick to adjust your settings, patient, and persistent. And a little lucky, too.
