Tree | Tony's Takes Photography

Silhouetted tree reflections at sunrise

March 11, 2021 by Tony Leave a Comment

I am a sucker for a good reflection and this was one I couldn’t pass up.

I do have to preface my narrative by saying it is a bit of a “copycat image” in that the weekend before this was taken, my friend, Shaun, captured a similar image from the same spot. We were both out at this location on Colorado’s northeastern plains when I saw him crouched down capturing this same scene. After seeing his shot, I decided I needed one of my own. 😉

So, this past Sunday I was there again and took the opportunity to capture it. Certainly, I would have loved to have had some more color in the skies but as is, it was pretty darned nice. The bursting sun provides a focal point and the near-perfect reflection of the silhouetted trees on the dark water shows just how quiet this location on the plains can be.

Lone tree against the sunrise

October 19, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

Sometimes standing apart from the crowd will give you the best view and that seems to be the tact this tree has taken. It took up root in an area between two large stands of trees, ensuring it stood out from the crowd.

Driving along early Saturday morning, trying to find a spot to capture the rising sun, I quickly hit the brakes when I saw it and the scene that was unfolding behind. The layers of clouds in the moments before the sun popped over the horizon really made for

Dramatic rock formations of Alaska’s Aialik Cape

July 28, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

A throwback to one year ago today and, my goodness, looking at the pics just floods my mind with memories of what was an amazing trip to Alaska.

This is an image I haven’t shared previously, taken during a boating excursion into Kenai Fjords National Park. The scenery was nothing short of stunning from the battered rock formations to snow-covered mountains and glaciers. Just beautiful.

My wife and I spent the entire day outside, on the bow, just soaking it all in. Other than a few, brief periods of rain showers, we were pretty fortunate to enjoy nice weather and see everything you could hope for. Someone in the campground we were staying at had done the same excursion the day before and rain and clouds prevented them from seeing anything.

Lone tree on the Colorado plains

July 16, 2020 by Tony 2 Comments

Sometimes you don’t have to go far for a cool scene – you just need to be paying attention.

Sitting at our campsite a few weeks ago, my wife and I were enjoying a nice, quiet late afternoon. At seemingly the same time, we both looked up from what we were reading and said, “Wow. That sure is pretty!”

Right ahead of us lie a field with a single pine tree. The sky was amazingly blue and punctuated with bright, white clouds. Off in the distance just above the horizon, thunderstorms were popping, the tops of the clouds of which we could see.

It really was quite beautiful and served as a reminder to pick your head up and look out every now and then. While the color image was nice, we both agreed that a conversion to black and white worked best. It really helped to make that one, lone tree pop and stand out from the rest of the scene.

Grove of aspen trees glowing in the morning light

June 27, 2020 by Tony Leave a Comment

When up in the area near Steamboat Lake, Colorado a few weeks ago, my wife and I took a bit of a diversion. We happened across a random Forest Service road and decided to head up and see what we could find.

It was a gorgeous day for a drive in the mountains, disconnected and well away from other people. We eventually stopped to take a break and went for a beautiful hike through the forest, coming to this grove of aspen. Just us and the trees in the Rocky Mountains. Awesome!

Old stump in black and white

July 28, 2019 by Tony Leave a Comment

Just a random, old tree stump that caught my attention recently while hiking in the forest. It had been dead for quite a while and its dried out condition really created some cool textures.

Monochrome snow-covered trees

February 11, 2018 by Tony Leave a Comment

A cold and wintry day on the Colorado plains yesterday. The weather seemed to have most of the critters holed up and hiding but, thankfully, Mother Nature provided some nice scenes to take pictures of. With the mercury at 15 degrees and light snow falling, these trees stood out in the middle of nowhere wearing their coat of white. As there wasn’t much color anyway, I converted the image to black and white which seemed to work well. Available here.

Black and white image of snow and frost covered trees on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

Lonely tree reflections in the fog

November 14, 2017 by Tony Leave a Comment

Taken last Friday, thick fog settled in along the St Vrain Creek and adjacent ponds and lakes. It made for some pretty cool scenes although it caught me off guard as just to the west where I started my photo tour on that day it was perfectly clear.

I converted this photo to black and white although given the filtered light and fog, it almost wasn’t necessary as even with the naked eye the scene was very monochromatic. Taken at St. Vrain State Park, Colorado.

A bare tree is reflected in the calm waters of a lake while fog envelops that landscape. (© Tony’s Takes)

Welcome to Sleepy Hollow

October 31, 2017 by Tony Leave a Comment

A rather scary road ahead on All Hallows’ Eve. 😉 I took this a couple of weeks ago and it was actually a very pretty scene with fog and fall foliage. As I was playing with it in post-processing I took it to the darker side to give it a much more ominous look. Kind of fun and thankfully no headless horseman to worry about. Have fun tonight!

A scary looking road ahead on Halloween. (© Tony’s Takes)

Bristlecone in black and white

September 19, 2017 by Tony Leave a Comment

I’m no arborist by any means but Bristlecone Pines fascinate me.

They have the capability to survive in extraordinarily harsh environments and have longevity that is just amazing. The remnants of this particular tree reside right near treeline in Colorado so at about 11,000 feet in altitude – not a pleasant place to be in the winter.

More so, this tree could have lived to be 5,000 years old! It may very well have been alive at the time of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and indeed could date back to the Bronze Age when the Egyptian pyramids were built. Just an amazing thing to think about.

Black and white image of a fallen bristlecone pine tree in the Mount Goliath area of Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)