TheShoe Loc: Lacey, WA

Doesn't look bad to me. In fact, it is the star of a masterfully captured and rendered scene.

bob h Loc: Greenville NC

While it's not a California Bristlecone pine tree, a quote from David Sinclair and Matthew LaPlante's "Lifespan" may be appropriate:
"The oldest of these trees have been here since before the pyramids of Egypt were built, before the construction of Stonehenge, and before the last of the woolly mammoths left our world. They have shared this planet with Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, and the first Buddha. Standing some two miles above sea level, adding fractions of a millimeter of growth to their twisted trunks each year, defying lightning storms and periodic droughts, they are the epitome of perseverance."

lmTrying Loc: WV Northern Panhandle

Aw, just connect with your inner bird force and fly up on that big branch and snap away!

lmTrying Loc: WV Northern Panhandle

On a more serious note, on average, how long do you wait around for the light to produce what you are looking for? I know that you are very familiar with your surroundings and usually have a good idea of what you will be seeing before you even pick up you camera to leave the house. But this image appears to be changing by the minute. Just courious.

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

I bet if they cut down all of those pesky redwoods, people would have a better view of the sun coming up.

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

Though there's no way for me to actually know, I'd expect I typically wait as long --or as short-- a time as anyone else. In the grand scheme of things, sure, light-wise if nothing else, having been there any number of times previous, I knew pretty explicitly what to expect along the mile out, mile back trail in this particular place. Knowing that, and knowing the direction/orientation of particular things (to be precise, the tree that's featured in my preceding 'tree times tree' post; that was the specific thing I went to shoot) in relation to the position of the sun in this particular time of year, would help anyone, myself included. What couldn't be predicted was the sky. From home, I could see there were (finally!) some clouds, and they looked as though they could be useful. But what I couldn't see was what those clouds would or wouldn't be doing on the western horizon. At home, cliffs block
the view to that horizon, and there was no way to gauge whether there'd be clouds at all, or whether they'd be 'good' clouds or there'd be an excess of clouds that would block, mute, or somehow muddy the late afternoon light. That I wouldn't know before getting out of the valley and gaining elevation, which is not a huge distance as such, but it is nonetheless a distance.

As regards the light on that other tree, I knew (assuming some bank of clouds to the west wouldn't mess things up) I'd have a solid hour to shoot before it would go into shade some 45 minutes before actual sunset, and I based my timing (when to leave home, when to arrive at Grandview, time and distance of the hike, etc.) on that. And I pretty much nailed that. Not only that, but I had sufficient time to shoot five slightly different compositions of that (other) tree, continue to the end of the point, looking and shooting a few incidentals along the way, and return to shoot it again before it fell into shadow. The tree in this post --or more specifically, the portions of the bare branches of the detail of the tree in this post-- were not lit when I'd passed them before, and though I didn't wait around to find out, I'm sure this tree would've been unlit and in shade five minutes after I got done shooting (the five exposures I shot, intending to focus stack the lot).

Long answer that probably doesn't really answer your question. Bottom line is, sure, there's lots of time I'll wait for a particular light (usually it's a matter of waiting for a cloud to move or what have you), and other times I don't wait at all.

williejoha

Jim, I am sure the tree was there first. IMHO. Great subject.
WJH

SWFeral Loc: SWNM

There are no bad trees, just bad owners...wait, that's dogs. I too now have an unfavorite tree which landed me in Urgent Care for eight staples in my scalp, simply for trying to avoid a low limb! And mine didn't even frame, or hinder, a spectacular view. It just attacked me.

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

Yup. Trees are like that. Sneaky, evil beggars that jump out at you as if from nowhere, however much they may be hiding in plain sight. Why do you suppose there are trees I call friends? Ever heard the expression, 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'? And why do you suppose good dogs and bad lift their hind leg and let loose every time they get near a tree? Dogs know evil when they see it, and even the bad ones wanna get fed, so they'll do what they gotta do to 'protect' their owner in a 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' sort of doggy sense.

The suggestion had been made (above, and not just once) that a little chainsaw massacre action would be appropriate. I neither agree nor disagree with that suggestion, per se, but that's only because I don't own a chainsaw. I do, however, have a very, very sharp hatchet handy. Right there where I can get to it quickly, in my Jeep....

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

Au contraire, willie. Never offer an opinion when a fact is available.

And the fact was, I WUZ HIKIN' THERE FIRST! Danged tree was just sittin' there, taking up space, gettin' in the way, and just generally bein' evil!

Bill_de Loc: US

Obviously Evil can be beautiful!

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Susan yamakawa

I like your treatment 👍👍😊😊

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

Right you are, Bob. It's not a Californicating Bristlecone. It's just a simple [-minded] Utah Juniper. And since it wasn't there before the Martians (or was it those little gray guys from Alpha Centuri or Uranus or somewhere instead?) built the Pyramids, or the Druids FedEx-ed those nice multi-ton stones to Salsbury Plain from way over there in Wales (did Druids have Amazon Prime? Don't know about anybody else, but if it'd been me who wanted to build Stonehenge, I'd have wanted to have free shipping), I'm sort of keeping the chainsaw option open.

williejoha

Jim, I concede. You are absolutely correct. How dare this tree would park itself right there and interfere with your view. Hey, I always enjoy your shots from one of my favored places in this great country. I hope to revisit Arches and Canyonland in the next week or two weather permitting. Be well.
WJH

Xmsmn Loc: Minnesota

Fabulous eye (at least the remaining good one) for composition. Thanks for sharing.
Mark