Six years ago, I got my first taste of infrared. I bought a filter on ebay and attached it to my little Canon Powershot S2 IS and went out taking shots all over town. My last stop that day was at a park with a duck pond. That began my love affair with this tree. Although the tree had been dead for years, it was such a striking contrast to the pond and living trees in the background.
Then I bought my first DSLR and attached the same filter to the camera and went to the pond to see what the new camera would be like. Whoah...very red!!! Such a contrast from the last camera!
Then I bought a better DSLR, which required a new filter (different size) and again I went to the pond. I wasn't so happy with the results and ended up making the shot monochrome. I still liked the shot, but I wasn't get the infrared results I wanted.
So, I bought a point-n-shoot on ebay that was converted to infrared. Now I was finally able to do hand-held infrared shots (rather than using a tripod). As you can see, down in the bottom of the frame is a branch that broke off of the tree.
A few months later, I went back with the same camera. I drug that broken branch out of the water and took another shot (since the previous shot had been taken in October when the leaves were starting to change).
And now I have a new camera for infrared. Another point-n-shoot. I bought it several months back, but it was winter and there were no leaves on the trees. I'm pretty sure I took a shot anyway, but had it on my list to return when conditions had improved.
Yesterday I decided that it was a good day to return to the park for an official shot with the latest infrared camera. There were nice storm clouds in the sky. So, I drove to the park. I grabbed my camera and started walking to the pond. The pond area is surrounded by trees, so I couldn't see my beloved tree until I was right up to the pond.
And that's when I saw it.
My beloved tree was lying on it's side in the water.
Dead.
A sadness washed over me.
For six years I had come here to photograph it.
And now I will never get another shot of my lovely tree.
Yes, I know the tree was dead before it actually fell over....but it had such character and made for such great pictures.
Goodbye, old friend.
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