Monday, December 2, 2013

The White Tree of Minas Tirith



While we were in the Valley of Fire in Nevada a few days before Thanksgiving, we came across this tree along the Rainbow Vista trail. "Lord of the Rings" fans that we are, we immediately called it "the white tree of Minas Tirith", the capital of Gondor.

I chose it for this week's Texture Tuesday. I first did a brightness adjustment to get the tree even whiter than it actually was. I processed it with Kim's texture "kk_charmed" in Multiply at 100% and then brushed the texture away from the tree as much as possible - at least from the main branches.

You might think that the color is a bit too brilliant. Well, this is the same tree without any processing, straight out of the camera:


The tree was on the shady side of the trail, so I changed my white balance to "shade" which intensifies the colors. Before that I took a shot of the tree in automatic white balance. The image I got was completely off from what I saw with my eyes - look here:


The colors are somewhat dull and not quite as red as they really were. That is the beauty of Valley of Fire, the incredible colors. When I changed the setting to "shade" the camera almost saw what I saw and I was much more happy with the outcome.

Here are two more detail shots of the tree


I tried to find out what tree this is, but unfortunately I wasn't successful. If you know what it is I would be more than happy if you let me know in the comments. Thank you.




16 comments:

La Vie Quotidienne said...

The textures and the colors...wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Deine Bilder sind unglaublich schön und die Farbe
des Gesteins hebt den Baum wirklich toll hervor !
LG Patricia

GlorV1 said...

Now that is a tree. Lucky you found it.:) thanks.

Magic Love Crow said...

What a beautiful and interesting tree! I love the photos!

Barbara said...

How awesome and how awesome is Mother Nature.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful images! Super colors.

Anonymous said...

Just stunning!

Angie said...

Beautiful colors and use of texture!

Our photos said...

Beautiful photos of the tree!

kelly said...

wow! amazing colors in the landscape. beautifully captured.

Maria Ontiveros said...

Spectacular!
Rinda

Becs said...

Wow, this is gorgeous! Such amazing colours and I love your processing on the first shot. I must be in Christmas mode as I looked at it and thought that would look amazing with fairy lights on it. :)

Janet said...

Gorgeous tree and stunning surroundings, beautifully captured! I think I have to add this 'Valley of Fire' to my bucket list! Wish I could help you with what it is…but I can say it looks like a smaller version of similar trees found in the Grand Canyon area..I believe they are mesquite trees...

Darla said...

What an interesting tree, I have no idea what it is though. Enjoyed comparing the different photo's and like the enhanced red background.

Darla

Friko said...

You must have a very good camera. I am about to start looking to replace one of mine but I don’t think i can run to a very expensive one.

What an incredible picture that is, If that is for real, the whole scene must be a fantastic one.

Susan W said...

So very interesting. I love the intense color of the rock in contrast to the tree.