Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Mesquite Sunset

Here's a photo from last month. I shot this in the Mesquite Thicket Valley on the ranch where I hunt. As the name implies, the valley is full of Mesquite trees. Some are large and knarled with age.


Shooting in this valley is a challenge because of the clutter and difficulty of travel. It's ripe with thick bunches of whitebrush and catclaw. Hidden within the tangles of spiney, thorny bushes are many types of cactus. To make things even worse, thick grass covers the ground. And, just when it couldn't get anymore difficult to walk, the ground is littered with ankle-twisting rocks that usually hide under the rough flora.

Just before sunset that evening, I noticed the clouds had a lot of potential, and I started to visualize a tree that mimicked the cloud pattern. I stomped and ripped myself through the wild tangles trying to find the right Mesquite tree to fulfill my vision.

As the sun dipped below the horizon and the colors peaked in intensity, I found this tree and quickly set up for a photograph. I worked through several positions and slightly different compositions. The one that looked best to me was a superposition of the tree over the sunset.

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