Evening Glow

“Evening Glow” is one of my favorite photographs of one of my favorite trees. I've taken photos of this tree ever since I could drive, back when I was shooting Black & White film that I hand developed in High School. On Halloween in 2018 I went to Raven’s Roost in hopes that the holiday would keep the crowds away but there was a large group taking sunset pictures. Luckily, they all dispersed quickly after the sun went down. Once it became dark enough, I tried to capture the tree silhouetted against the stars, but I wasn’t happy with the initial results as the tree was too dark against the sky.   

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Then I had an idea to add a few battery powered tealights around the tree (the tealights were a gag gift from my sister because I spilled real candle wax on my then brand new suit at a wedding) but they didn’t light the tree up enough at first so I then put the lights on the branches. The wind blew them off quickly, but before they fell, I was able to capture the glow they provided around the tree. To this day, this is my favorite picture of the tree as I feel it captures the true essence and glory of the tree.