Although the main draw of autumn in the mountains is the beautiful show put on by (among others) groves of aspens, I think that bare aspens that have dropped their leaves carry a certain mystique as well. Recently, while spending time in an aspen grove in the eastern Sierra, I noted this group of small trees that had already dropped their leaves. I loved the interplay between the writhing tree trunks, the naked branches, and the shadows in the background.
Spooky, October 2010
To process this image, I manually blended two images: one to accentuate the bright trunks and another to close off the shadows in the background. I further increased contrast during black and white conversion using Nik Silver Efex Pro and cropped a small amount of the grass out of the bottom of the frame.
*This is also the title of a book written by Jane Yolen; I just thought the image really screamed “spooky” and the name was appropriate.
A very moving photo Greg. You’ve gone beyond just showing us these bare aspens. I can feel the place. Beautiful.
Many thanks, PJ. The second I saw those trunks and the way they seemed to dance from the ground, I knew there was an image there…
This is a beautiful and haunting photograph, Greg – maybe even one of your very best. Print this sucker large and enjoy it daily. Great reminder that aspens can be successfully photographed even when they aren’t displaying brilliant yellow leaves.
Amazing spooky image, it gives you the thrills, nice Holloween shot!