Lonely at the Top

Rick,

I like the composition of this fairly well. Dead trees are cool. The snow doesn't add much interest IMO. The blue sky is nice.

Wonderful contrast between the near whites and the rich blue sky. I can't help but see this a candidate for black and white. The question that hits me is, how level was your camera? (I live in flat country)

Buck, Thanks for the comments. Camera was positioned about two feet off the ground and level .You can tell by looking at the growing spruces in background as their branches are perpendicular..

What's funny is that I was thinking this was Crater lake before you even mentioned it. When I saw the thumbnail, I thought it was perhaps a view looking *down* with the blue waters of crater lake in the background. Sure enough, I was right about the location, but completely wrong about what I was actually looking at.

The snow definitely acts as a wonderful reflector here, and you've done a great job showing detail in all that brightness. The longer I look at that tree, the more it seems to resemble some sort of creature with long heavy arms. Good eye.

Nice tree and scene. I think this works really well as a B&W, as it uses the harsher light and dark blue sky to great advantage.

I like the composition, Rick, but there's something disturbing about the perspective. The only thing that is saving me from rolling down the hill is the level line under the tree on the left edge. Thank goodness! Quite a shot.