This is one of the largest white pines in an old growth forest that I explored with the Wisconsin Natural Resources Foundation. It’s at the Dunn Lake Pines State Natural Area which is surrounded by private land and can only be accessed via the river that runs through it. Once your there you can explore to your heart’s content.
I love this image because none of the canopy you see belongs to this giant - it comes from the smaller maples and oaks that surround it. From a distance you can see the top of this, but up close it is out of sight. I’ll include a photo of the DNR Ranger measuring it so you can get an idea of scale. These are the trees ship masts were made of. Just the scale of it, even if it isn’t a redwood or sequoia, is far beyond our own. The trunk just soared out of sight, solid and unshakable. I love these beauties even more since they are so rare.
Specific Feedback Requested
Am open to processing ideas. I can’t really go shoot it again easily, lol. I have a couple other angles and a portrait view as well.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Handheld
Lr for initial RAW adjustments including an exposure bump, curves adjustment, texture, clarity & lens correction. Then into Photoshop for some luminosity masking to tease apart the shadows and highlights and bring some three-dimensionality to the trunk and the canopy.