"The Dancer"

 

My dad and I came across this really intriguing tree a few weeks ago while out hiking around on some frozen beaver ponds.  The tree is dead and has lost all of its bark, leaving behind an incredibly smooth trunk. When I stood at the base of the tree and looked up at it, I knew immediately that I wanted to return at night to photograph it with the stars. The shape reminds me of a dancer striking a pose. I knew I had limited time to capture it at night, as the tree is in the middle of a beaver pond.  Once the ice melts, in order to get these photos you'd have to wade out into the middle of the pond. Luckily, within a week of discovering the tree we had a clear, cold night with lots of stars. I actually spent almost the entire night out in the woods photographing various trees in different locations, but this was the first one that I spent time with.