I shot these boojum trees during the last few minutes of daylight. This was at Baja California near Bahia de Los Angeles. I just like these trees and never seem to grow tired of their shapes. Its actually a bit challenging to find trees whose shapes complement one another to form a good composition. And, of course, you don’t want a uniform blue sky for you background. So here’s my latest attempt. Let me know how I can improve on this.
GFS50R, 32-64mm
Wow, those are very cool. The low-angle light is fabulous, as it really picks out their round trunks. And the golden color is so beautiful with the sky. The only small nit that catches my eye is that bluish, curved branch in the LRC. It’s the odd color of it, not that it’s poking into the scene. I think just warming it up would make it less noticeable. But, that’s the only thing I see. This is wonderful. 
I was wondering when we would start to see some of this, I love these trees too. Approximately how tall are the front two trees? They look massive.
The light on the trees and in the sky is wonderful. But what sets this image apart for me are all the secondary background trees of varying heights. They pull your eye into the scene much better than the mountain does. I also like how all the trees are leaning in slightly different directions. The whimsical shapes of the trees almost look like illustrations from a Dr. Seuss book. Beautiful work here Igor, I look forward to seeing more from your trip.
@Igor_Doncov, I couldn’t see any difference between your 1st and 2nd versions. This is what I had in mind. Also, I agree with Ed on all his observations - it’s not just the two main trees, all the ones fading into the distance give this depth.
Wow, what strange trees! I’ve never seen or even heard of Boojum trees. How neat they are!
All the normal stuff, composition, color, etc. looks great to me, but it appears a little dark overall, especially the sky, which translates into a flatter looking image. I felt it needed a little boost overall in brightness, and I also lightened just the clouds a little bit as well.
Revised
It’s funny you should say that. The name Boojum Tree was inspired by a Dr Seuss character although I can’t find a reference to it. They’re usually referred to as the Cirio trees. They photograph best during a drought or during the dry season because the show off their texture best when they’re leafless. They don’t have branches. They leaves grow straight out of their trunks. A good size tree is about 30-40’. They don’t get much larger. People like them because they grow into strange shapes and they’re linear. Therefore you can play mental games and come up with subject they look like. After reaching a good height they may start to grow down and then they may circle back and form a loop. But aside from this gimmickry the tree has a graceful natural beauty. And that’s what I’m after. Any good photograph of such a tree can’t be taken without plenty of sky, I’ve decided. So you need to be there when the sky is right. They’re endemic to a swath of Baja and it’s illegal to remove them. But in Mexico rules don’t mean much. I do have another image of them taken with a different approach.
You have no idea how much searching goes on to get the distribution in size and spacing to get a satisfying composition. Not that I mind spending my hours that way. The only thing I mind is stepping on the spines and having them run through my shoes. You notice a cactus at the base of the tree called chain-linked cactus. It propagates by breaking off 2 inch links, which eventually grow into another cactus. The plant disperses when an unlucky creature (me) steps on it and carries it somewhere and removes it.
The tip of that tall tree looks like a serpents forked tongue. The low light coming across the scene from left to right really highlights the tree trunks and the left over leaf stems and I actually love that one remaining stem and leaf on the secondary tree trunk. I love the fact that the tree trunks are slightly wavy and going in different directions and at different heights. There is no tension with any two of them being the same height. There is lots of vegetation other than the trees which really help catch the light and paint a pretty scene. The sky looks great too. I think I like the sky somewhere between the original and the sky that Bill redid. What a terrific desert scene Igor!
Igor,
Nothing new to add, but I also echo @Ed_McGuirk comments about the secondary trees being so important to this scene. But you knew that and thus the wandering for this fine composition. I do like @Bonnie_Lampley treatment of the branching the LRC.
Wonderful comp and light. Can’t think of anything to change.
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@Ed_McGuirk, @David_Haynes, @Alan_Kreyger, @Bonnie_Lampley, @Tony_Kuyper, @Bill_Chambers - thank you for your thoughts an criticism. I actually like the original exposure and don’t think I’ll change it much, if at all. It’s been over a week now since I posted it and I still feel pretty good about it. I think it’s a keeper.
Igor,
An absolutely excellent photo. Light, subject, composition are all perfect. The trees are mesmerizing.
Thank you, Youseff. I didn’t think this image would get any more comments.
