There’s no shortage of photographic opportunities walking around the Base track of Mount Maunganui. While Dad and I were largely after birds, Mum pointed out this ominous tree with roots tangling into the long grasses, and it was a great chance to get some different photographs. It was a surprisingly difficult subject. While the tree has undeniable character, translating that into a photograph proved difficult, and we revisited it a few times during the course of our stay.

Above is my first attempt with my go-to travel combination of the D300 and 18-200mm lens, which I was busy getting reacquainted with. I really like this photograph, but I wanted to go wider, as I felt that some of the curves were cramped by the framing.

D300 with the 12-24mm. I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would. There’s too much in the frame now, and the diverging branch in the upper right corner is distracting. While this photograph has it’s merits, I definitely prefer the first one. I still wasn’t happy though, because the textures of the grass and the roots were something that got excluded in these images, and they played a role in the allure of the tree in the first place.

The area around the tree is busy with rocks, the path above and other trees and bushes. This made it hard to isolate the interesting parts of the tree, and also made it difficult to get into a good position to photograph the tree from! I liked the outcome of this photograph, taken with the Fuji X100. I like the interaction of the textures of the lichen covered rock, dry dead wood and spray of grass.

While I’m happy with the photos I got of this tree, I still feel that there’s more to be explored and I’ll no doubt revisit it on future trips around the Mount!