"And the boy loved the tree...very much. And the tree was happy."  Shel Silverstein

Most of us nature photographers spend a lot of time photographing trees in all seasons: autumn's colouful canopy, the fresh vibrant greens of new budding leaves, or the snow-laden branches of winter.

1-C_17_0168Plough furrows and tree, Huron County, Ontario, Canada.

More challenging is to photograph an isolated tree, mainly because a lone tree is difficult to isolate. Locating that tree on the brow of a hill, as above, is one way to make that photograph.. It is also important to find a tree with an interesting shape or outline. When you do find yourself in these situations, be sure to make both vertical and horizontal photos. Then when viewing these images on your computer you can choose the format that you prefer.

Here are three examples of this situation. Decide which format you like better.

2-T_06_0263Sycamore Gap

3-T_06_0260Sycamore Gap While driving along in England's Northumberland National Park I spotted this tree in the distance. So I doubled back and found a parking lot. From there it was an easy twenty minute walk to the site to photograph Sycamore Gap along Hadrian's Wall.

4-U_12_0368 5-U_12_0364Pinyon Pine growing on red rock ledge, Zion National Park, Utah

Similarly I spotted this tree while driving the main road through Utah's Zion National Park. I was then easily able to walk closer to this small pine.

6-C_13_0598

7-C_13_0596 On another occasion I photographed this same tree in Huron County in the summer.

8-C_15_0430 In these next two photos I was able to isolate a lone tree because of the fog muting the back forest.

9-S_08_0461 10-S_19_0223Foggy sunrise, Wanup, Ontario, Canada Winter snow cover can help to simplify the setting and allow the lone tree be the main focus.

11-U_16_0008 This is in the prairies of South Dakota.

12-C_18_0159 Here is a more intimate tree portrait, Banff National Park.

13-U_12_0716 The contrasting colours of the green tree and the red sandstone terrain in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah, make this lone tree the main focus.

13b-U_12_0353Checkerboard Mesa In this example the strong patterns of Checkerboard Mesa in Zion National Park compete and become the main focus.

The background needs to be quite plain or simple, as in the following images.

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15-15000005Sunrise over foggy pond, Burwash, Ontario

16-C_12_0209 Making that lone tree a silhouette is another way to make the tree dominant. It is not necessary to include the whole tree.

Another technique is to fill the frame with the tree, eliminating all surrounding elements.

17-C_12_0061Hoar frost on hanging willow branches, Cool's Pond, Vernon, British Columbia, Canada

A frosted willow at Cool's Pond in Vernon, British Columbia.

18-C_18_0181 Cherry blossoms in High Park, Toronto.

19-X_09_0009 Even though the forest is visible surrounding this maple near St.Pothier Lake, the tree stands out because of its brilliant red colour in front of the muted forest's hues.

So go out looking for lone trees to photograph keeping in mind some of these suggested techniques.