I've recently discovered that I possess a real fascination with trees. First, I shot the famed Angel Oak Tree, which my dear friend from Kim West first introduced me to. I was so pleased with the result and by happenstance, I caught another tree called a Bristlecone sitting on the edge of the earth in the Grand Canyon. But most recently I have photographed the Banyan tree, which I found when we landed in Hawaii.
Brandon is a great friend of mine that I first met in college years ago. It was he who picked me up from the airport when I first landed in Hawaii. As odd as it sounds, the Banyan tree was one of the first things that I saw upon arriving at the airport. It blew my mind-it was so massive! With these tendril-like vines it hangs from the tree that root themselves in the ground. The tree actually lives on another tree, but it's not a parasite. Rather, it's what's known as a strangler fig that starts its life as an epiphyte (a plant growing on another plant).
I really wanted to try and capture the essence of the tree. I looked and I looked and I looked – hunting for the perfect tree to good one to shoot. To be honest, I found it to be quite difficult to photograph. One obvious reason being is that it is just so massive. Framing properly took time and multiple trials and errors. They also grow throughout the city, meaning there are more beautiful and different things to shoot than I could ever have time for. Trying to encapsulate the beauty of it all is very difficult for any person, but especially for a photographer as detail-oriented and emotionally invested as myself. Needless to say, I did locate one breathtaking Banyan tree near Rainbow Falls in Hilo that I fell in love with. It was actually two trees – one in the foreground and one in the background, which you can actually climb inside of it.
To capture this image, I had to climb up inside of it and take some shots while exploring its insides. Sadly, I wasn't happy with any of those. It was only when I took a step back that I noticed that I wasn't focusing on just one tree, but two trees instead. You really could see something about the grandeur of it. This ended up being “the shot” I took. While I'm not totally pleased with a shot like this, it is the one that I enjoy the most. This is the photo I've chosen to share with you all. Thanks to this experience, it’s now my mission to go back to Hawaii or somewhere on this earth where I can find another Banyan and get the exact picture I'm looking for.
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