Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sticks and Stones

A tree with roots crawling along the ground. It has managed to pick up a chunk of red Copper Harbor Conglomerate as it has grown up.
Roots with rocks
Prints of this photo are available!

Here's another stop on our Grand Tour of Hunter's Point and Porter's Island (in Copper Harbor). This beauty of a tree grew up on the conglomerate rock of Porter's Island, and its roots managed to slowly tear up a big chunk of rock as the tree grew.

Everything in sight along this part of the harbor is either red conglomerate rock, or huge black rocks jutting out of the lake. The geology of this area is amazing, and I need to learn more about it!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very interesting subject. I reckon I could waste a good hour shooting those roots.

DC said...

@Light Stalking -- yeah, I was lying on a snowbank, feet higher than my head, halfway upside down, trying to twist into just the right position to get this shot! In the end, the wind won out a bit, but I got a good one before then.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic shot. Trees and sidewalks are a major problem here. In several spots, the trees are breaking up the sidewalk in little pieces, which can easily be a hazard for walking.

Anonymous said...

This photo makes me think of corn stalk roots for some reason! :-) It's very interesting to look at.

JC

DC said...

@LisaNewton: Yup, I know what you mean -- tree roots are amazingly strong. I'm reading "Lord of the Rings" right now, so I'm reminded of the Ents... ok, enough geek time!

@JC: these roots aren't nearly that creepy! I was quite able to get up close and personal with these, thank goodness.

Anonymous said...

Do you ever use a tripod? If so, I hope you will try HDR multiple exposures. Both this photo and the wooden bridge photo have blown-out regions that could have been made moderate or interesting with HDR photography(High Dynamic Range). I can hear the judges at my photo club whining "my eye is drawn to the bright areas and away from the subject". And the HDR would have given you more detail in the wooden bridge--just what we want to see most.

I have done some good HDR images with three quick handheld exposures, but it's easier and better with a tripod.

----Glen C.

DC said...

Hi Glen -- thanks for stopping by. :) I do own a tripod, but believe me -- you would never want cart a tripod this many miles out in the snow, ice, and cold, on snowshoes! On the other hand, the bridge photo (at the top of the page currently) would be much more amenable to using a tripod.

I haven't played around with HDR images, but I have thought about them... only occasionally have I seen HDRs that I thought looked natural. I'll have to give them a try.

Thanks for the comments. :)

futureDoc said...

Was the picture taken down?

DC said...

@futureDoc -- thanks, my image host was having troubles. I've fixed it. Enjoy!

futureDoc said...

Love it!