Angel Oak
Back to Charleston for a few black and white shots of a beautiful tree called the Angel Oak, thought to be at least 400 years old (if not much more so). I had been trying to get down there to see this tree for years now and it was nice to finally make it there and soak it all in. These old southern oak trees are achingly beautiful and one of my favorite parts of traveling to the southeast. Their long, hearty branches seem to defy gravity as they spread outward and in some cases such as this tree, end up growing so far outward they end up touching the ground. The Angel Oak is free to visit and has a modest park surrounding it with a gift shop full of a handful of local offerings and photos for sale. There are a couple of websites dedicated to the tree but I’m not exactly sure which is the official site, this one here has visiting hours listed at least. Well worth the drive if you are int he area.
I held off sharing these because I was not completely satisfied with the way they turned out. I am starting to feel a bit claustrophobic using a 50mm lens, well, on the X-Pro1 it’s the equivalent of one at least. After developing my personal style using 35mm lenses on full frame bodies I don’t mind shooting with a 50 but it often cramps my style. These images also show the shortcomings of my current camera setup and trying to shoot with my classic, wide open, shallow DOF reliant compositions. I am hoping to figure out a way to pick up Fuji’s newer 23mm f/1.4 lens eventually so I can get back to my familiar focal range and give myself the breathing room I am used to having when approaching a subject.
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Was inspired by your mentions of the place to visit it when I was there a couple months ago. Had similar problems feeling comfortable with my 50mm! Beautiful place, and I wish I had been able to capture it better (was disappointed with how my shoot turned out). These are great, though!
I think these look great, I know where you’re coming from with the claustrophobic feel of the 35mm…would love to pick up the 27mm but just too expensive at the moment (I got the 35mm as an extra free lens when I bought my X-Pro 1 from Wex). So, for the time being I have the 35mm and 18mm – but would very much like to have something in between.
Very nice images all the same, the contrast and shapes lend themselves beautifully to your compositions!
23mm rather, not 27…
Beautiful
It’s the great Deku Tree :-)
So lovely. I love them all.