Another supplemented tree silhouette (like the last one). This composition features three storks that rest on a birch tree. The photograph was created in spring 2013 and seems appropriate today. We had a wonderful and warm weekend here in Zurich and I am looking forward to the warmth and awakening of spring. I wish you a good start in the new week!

Today's tree silhouette comes with a supplement - a bird silhouette. I was debating whether I should start a whole new gallery entitled "tree silhouettes with birds", but decided against it. In the photograph above I like how the bird is framed by the beech branches; almost as if it was sitting in a cage. Like most of the tree silhouettes shown here, it is also a nearby photograph. The composition above was taken at our children's school, where a whole "forest" of purple beeches has been planted (it does not resemble a forest at all, the trees are still rather small). If you are interested, have a look at some of the tree silhouette photographs shown earlier or at the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos.

I am rather busy at the moment, have my mind full of other things than photography (I have a new job), and therefore spend less time photographing and writing about photographs. However, I will resume the tree silhouette theme for a couple of weeks. For me, winter is tree silhouette season, even though interesting compositions featuring the outlines of trees can be found any time of the year. The particular example shown above has been captured last autumn and is probably quite exceptional for Switzerland. Usually, trees are not allowed to rise so high above the others! This pine tree is growing near the Segetenhaus in the ravine of the Werenbach, where we passed on a beautiful walk from Forch back to Zurich.
If you are interested, browse some of the tree silhouette photographs shown earlier or have a look at the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos.

The shift-panorama shown above has been taken in Yosemite National Park, close to Olmsted Point. Five photographs were taken with an old, manual 90 mm lens (in total 15 mm shift in both directions) and combined to form this tree silhouette panorama. I have stopped publishing photographs from my tree silhouette series earlier this year because it is a theme I am rather pursuing during winter time, but the summer photograph above fits the theme very well.

Unless I have something important to say about tilt-shift photography, I will stop publishing blog posts under the tilt-shift label. My tilt-shift adapter is a tool that I regularly and often use to photograph subjects and topics that I care about. I much rather show my photographs in this context than have them reduced to technicalities. If you have a question about the Mirex tilt-shift adapter for micro-four thirds cameras, please have a look at the previous blog posts, or contact me if you have any unanswered questions.

Tree silhouette 14: This is the last tree silhouette photograph that I am showing for the time being. The best time to photograph tree silhouettes is winter, of which I do not want to be remembered anymore now. The silhouette above is an exception in at least two ways: It only shows a leaf of a tree and the photograph was not taken in winter. I was intrigued by the delicate, pinnate leafs of Acacia dealbata (silver wattle), whose beauty, I think, is nicely captured in this simple, black and white silhouette composition. I hope you have enjoyed the tree silhouette contributions and as a farewell I also include a slideshow of all 14 photographs that have been shown here. 

Tree silhouette 13: This is another addition to my tree silhouette gallery and the collection of strangely shaped trees. While the spruce tree on the right looks more or less normal, the specimen on the left has a rather unique treetop. The photograph was taken on a recent family bike ride along the river Töss.

Tree silhouette 12: Here comes the very recently recorded dozenth tree silhouette. We have just spent a weekend in exceptionally bad weather in London. One of the few discoveries that made me take out the camera was this tree in St. James's Park with its strangely intertwined and even merging branches. To me, it looks as if there was a mask with two eyes staring at me out of this labyrinth of branches and twigs. If you want, have a look at the other tree silhouette posts or at the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos. 

Tree silhouette 11: The tree that lent its shape to the photograph above grows very close to my home. I am attracted to its silhouette, because it looks as if there are trees growing from one of its branches. Other tree silhouettes have been shown in previous posts and are also found in the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos. 

Tree silhouette 10: This is a 1 peek post with two peeks - but obviously only with one silhouette. Plane trees are popular in parks and gardens in Europe. Most of the time, the cultivated London plane trees are trimmed in winter and afterwards often display such a mutilated appearance. This particular tree was growing on the border of the Lac de Gérardmer in the Vosges mountains, in France. What a contrast to the huge and much more naturally looking Platanus species in the photograph below. This is the most beautiful and largest plane tree that I remember seeing. It grows in the middle of Granada, in Spain, next to the Fuente de las Batallas. Although this tree is likely much older, I doubt that it is cut down to size as drastically as the tree shown above. If you would like to browse more tree silhouette photographs have a look at the other posts or the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos. The "normal" tree photograph below is part of the tree gallery, which is currently unlisted (but you can access it with the hyperlink, if you want).

Tree silhouette 9: This European Larch must have been confused - why would it form such a tree top-like structure along its stem and not only at its top? If you are in Zurich, you can look out for this particular tree and its remarkable silhouette on the nice walk from the Uetliberg to Altstetten. If you like this tree silhouette, you may also enjoy my other tree silhouette posts or the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos.

Tree silhouette 8: Today's tree silhouette depicts a weeping willow (Salix babylonica in latin). It is a somewhat unusual silhouette, because some of the pendulous branches in the foreground were lit and appear white in this photograph. I quite like this effect, although I am not completely satisfied with the above composition. However, both the name of the tree and the fact that it contains salicylic acid, a chemical that is similar to aspirin, fit my general mood today. Also have a look at my other tree silhouette posts or at the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos.

Tree silhouette 7: It is Corsica week! After the Light & shadow composition from earlier this week, here comes a tree silhouette from Corsica. My wife says it is a gorilla with "something" on its nose. I photographed this rock formation with the two tiny pine trees on our hike to the waterfall named Piscia di Gallo. I was underwhelmed by the waterfall itself, but pleasantly surprised by the landscape along the hike. Other tree silhouette posts are found HERE or in the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos.

Tree silhouette 6: A beam of branches from a wintery tree. Incidentally (or not), the tree is called the European Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus in Latin). There are several Hornbeams around where we live and I like the silhouettes they create very much - such an intricate mixture between thick and thin branches! Other tree silhouettes posts are found HERE or in the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos

Tree silhouette 5: A minimalistic branch loop composition. The four preceding tree silhouettes are found HERE or in the tree silhouette gallery on Florian's photos. For those interested: the tree is a European ash (Fraxinus excelsior).

Tree silhouette 4: The seed balls of the London plane (Platanus x acerifolia) decorate the bare branches like christmas tree balls on the conifers that some of you may have at home right now (only less colorful). Merry christmas to everybody who is celebrating this holiday!

As the seasons pass, light, shadows, colors, the weather and the vegetation continuously change and create new opportunities and discoveries for the observant photographer (and of course also for the attentive observer without a camera). The different seasons therefore lend themselves to different photography themes. The recently presented carcolor theme is perfectly suited for the summer because brightly lit facades and objects create impressive reflections on car bodies. Light & shadow photographs obviously also necessitate sunlight to throw interesting shadows on facades or the ground.  Here in Zurich, the winter months are often grey and cold and there may be no shadow far and wide for weeks.  Since a couple of winters I take advantage of these rather depressing conditions to photograph tree silhouettes. Although these photographs are somewhat unusual for me - I really am a "color guy" - tree silhouettes are a perfect pursuit for grey winter days.

Tree silhouette 1: Poplar silhouettes

According to wikipedia, a silhouette is the shape of an object or person (or any living thing) of a single, plain color.  Silhouettes are a very old form of expression and can be created by different means. Traditionally, they were cut out from black paper and mounted on a lightly colored background, but all sorts of combinations, variations and collages exist.  I may have been preconditioned to this traditional art form because my parents have paper-cut illustrations and a book of a friend of theirs, Helmut Bögel, who is known for his humorous paper-cut illustrations of people. Silhouettes can also be drawn and of course photographed.

Tree silhouette 2: Weeping beech (Fagus sylvatica "pendula") on Lake Zug, Switzerland

I appreciate silhouettes because they are an attempt to extract the essence of something much more complex, a kind of minimalisation that I am fond of. The reduction of a convoluted whole not only represents a loss, but may even reveal a pattern or structure that is only visible when the shades of grey are suppressed.  I think that the shapes and patterns formed by bare trees are much under-appreciated.  Each kind of tree exhibits a slightly different branching pattern and most fascinating are the individual nuances observed in the silhouettes within the same species. For example, the branches and twigs of a tree growing on the edge of a forest may all point in the same general direction and thus create a regular pattern. On the other hand, a lonely tree often adopts a harmonious, roundish shape that leads to a different kind of silhouette symmetry.

I hope that you enjoy some of these photographs and that they may encourage one or the other to have a conscious look at nude trees!

Tree silhouette 3: Apple tree (Malus domestica) silhouette