Earth Wonders - Trees

This week's subject matter at Ana's Earth Wonders Photo Challenge is "Trees." 

The other morning, just after dawn, I went outside to capture the leaves changing to their Autumn dress on our 10 1/2 year old Maple tree. 

We had planted it right after we moved into our new home.  It was just a little bitty shoot, maybe 12-18 inches tall, and the previous owner had tried unsuccessfully to eradicate it.  I dug up the poor little maple-ette from the front flower bed and transplanted it lovingly into the backyard.  Like all of God's living things, it just needed a little love, a little tender loving care!  That little shoot is now taller than our house!  It gives us shade from the southern sun in the summer, helping to keep the back bedroom cooler.  That must have been the reason for it to pop its little head up every year, refusing to die.

The morning sun was so very bright that morning!  You can see the top of the tree is so washed out from the light. 

I adjusted the contrast/brightness/vibrancy and used two of Kim Klassen's wonderful textures for the final result. The first texture is one of my favorites: Pumpkin Grunge. I used blend mode Soft Light @ 100% opacity.  The second texture is Autumn Burst, blend mode Multiply @ 50%.  I wish I had thought to remove the trash can before I took the picture, but to be honest, I really didn't see it! Only when I started playing around with the photo did it become visible to me! ;)  Guess I must have been sleepy?



Take care and God Bless!

XoXoXo