“Because you don’t notice the light without a bit of shadow. Everything has both dark and light. You have to play with it till you get it exactly right.” 
― Libba Bray

As I’ve said many times this past year, it’s amazing what we see and don’t see, or rather notice. In the case of these poplar trees, which I have passed through immeasurable times, the camera picks up on light changes that our eyes simply ‘flatten’ out.

I never noticed the nearly black tree that appears in the image, as it is ‘eclipsed’ i the shadow of another tree. My eyes would have perceived this as merely a tree that’s shaded, yet the difference in brightness in the photo is significant. It’s darker than I can recall.

How many time have we made a photo in a forest and then ben surprised at just how intense the shadows are? They didn’t seem that significant as we peered through the viewfinder. Such is the nature of light and how dynamic our brain’s ability to balance that light. Which can prove a challenge to the photographer, as we try to make an image look as much as possible to what we saw. It can prove quite difficult.

By the way, the title of the image hearkens me back to childhood, Sesame Street days, and the game of “One of these Things is Not like the Other”. In this case, One of these Trees.

Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD@78mm
1/4 sec, f/32.0, ISO 400

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