The Tree

Ten years ago, we bought a piece of property in hopes of eventually building a house there. The land was heavily wooded and there was really only one option of where we would be able to put the house. That spot was approximately 800 feet off the road and through lots of heavy underbrush and trees.

Before we could begin building we had to have loggers come in and clear out many tall trees and then have an excavating company come through and clear the building site as well as a path that would eventually become our driveway. We marked out a path and left the rest of the work in the hands of the capable people we hired.

Approximately eight months later – in May 2002 – we moved in. Around that same time, we discovered two dogwood trees – on either side of our driveway in just the perfect spot for us to see them from our front room windows.

I’ve always felt that those two trees were placed there as a special gift to us. They were not in bloom when the driveway was put in therefore we had no way of knowing what special treasure awaited us. But there they were that first spring in full splendor, on either side of our driveway. If the driveway had been put in another foot to the right or the left or both, they would’ve been trampled by heavy machinery.

Each spring, I await the blooming of those dogwood trees with great anticipation. The dainty white blossoms make my heart smile. They lift my spirits after months of cold weather. They remind me of new life and miracles and precious gifts.

For those of you interested in the specifics, I took all of the above shots with my 100mm 2.8L macro lens on my Rebel xti. They were edited in Elements 9. After making a few adjustments in ACR, I gave them a quick clean edit (Levels Adjustment and Solid Color Adjustment where I applied a light cream layer on Soft Light blending mode at 100% opacity). I sharpened them using a High Pass Filter and then I applied a free texture from Kim Klassen's Cafe. On most of the shots, I used her “Trust” texture on Soft Light blending mode. Then I saved and that’s it!

To see more amazing shots, you can visit Sweet Shot Tuesday at My 3 Boybarians.

Thanks for stopping by!