Curly

Gallery: LandscapePosted March 7, 2010142 views15 comments

Cirio tree (also known as the 'boojum') in late afternoon light. These trees in the Catavina desert (central Baja California, MX) form bizarre and beautiful shapes, and spending a couple of nights there is like spending time in an animated Dr Seuss story.

I hope to go back and re-shoot this tree. I did this shot 'on-the-fly' with no tripod, so its not tack sharp all the way through, but the best I could do at the time...

Canon 40D
1/40 sec
f16
ISO 400

Editing: an intruding branch from the next tree was cloned out near the bottom

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Steve Sieren on March 7, 2010 at 9:38 PM

Daniel, I love Baja and I love this! Just the fact that you can see the texture in the front of the frame is all that matters to me, the brain will just assume the rest is sharp unless you're a nose to print type of photography viewer. Where's the enjoyment doing it that way? The way the comp swirls you around and puts the cactus in your face makes it exuisite!
SS

Registered on January 2, 2008, 360 Posts, 5321 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Pelton on March 7, 2010 at 10:37 PM

Wonderful composition of this delightful plant. I would love to see these in person some day. Looks pretty sharp to me.

Registered on November 25, 2003, 380 Posts, 4647 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on March 7, 2010 at 10:38 PM

That's one awesome plant! Never seen these myself, now I want to go! Excellent job filling the frame too.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Pete D on March 7, 2010 at 11:04 PM

i rather like the polarizer sky.

the composition is great too.

It would have killed me to shoot this without a tripod, but at this size it looks quite ok.

Pete D. d.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 590 Posts, 1794 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Ellingsen on March 8, 2010 at 12:06 AM

Woah! Thats pretty wild, Daniel. I'm definitely feeling the Dr. Seuss vibe as well. Never heard of, or seen one of these guys before, so thanks for sharing!

Registered on January 16, 2008, 56 Posts, 953 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on March 8, 2010 at 12:32 AM

The comp is really excellent and the texture detail is just as good. The heavily polarized sky is slightly distracting to me, but the shot is still very well done.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on March 8, 2010 at 12:36 AM

Neat way to fill a frame with a weird tree. Never seen these before. Looks like something from Dr. Seuss. A forest of these must be pretty cool.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Verena & Georg Pop on March 8, 2010 at 3:07 AM

Sweet! I really like this one!
I also love the area around catavina with all the granite boulders and cacti and succulents - a special place for sure. and hope you'll post some stuff from there as I havn't been there in 10 years.
georg

Registered on July 5, 2006, 272 Posts, 2823 Comments

Comment posted by Taylor Reed on March 8, 2010 at 1:31 PM

Crazy tree, this is great

Registered on February 18, 2010, 26 Posts, 556 Comments

Comment posted by Eric Good on March 8, 2010 at 2:16 PM

Now that's crazy cool! A B&W version might make this feel even more alien... maybe a red filter or yellow filter. Either way, I absolutely enjoy the uniqueness of the image... well seen!

Registered on March 17, 2007, 116 Posts, 4764 Comments

Comment posted by Jason Kim on March 8, 2010 at 5:48 PM

Nice find, that is a cool tree. Love the composition.

Registered on July 1, 2006, 60 Posts, 1233 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on March 8, 2010 at 6:44 PM

Great perspective!! Definitely worth revisiting this one. Very cool.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Laurent Baig on March 9, 2010 at 2:43 PM

Awesome!!!

Registered on January 12, 2005, 206 Posts, 6784 Comments

Comment posted by David Clapp on March 9, 2010 at 6:27 PM

wo, izzacurlin banabender(hic) gooza tister

Registered on November 28, 2005, 137 Posts, 441 Comments

Comment posted by Matthew Jellings on March 11, 2010 at 2:47 PM

WoW!!!!

This is striking. The simplicity is killer! How about in black and white? The tree almost looks as if it's reaching down to talk to you, great framing of the main stem in the natural ring you've created. Awesome photo Daniel.

Registered on November 1, 2009, 8 Posts, 97 Comments