In the beginning of February, 2021, I spent two days in Monterey, where I took four photographs that are now included in my small Monterey Trees series. One of them is the featured photo. I took it at Monterey’s Fort Old Dunes State Park. I wrote a previous blog post (Monterrey Dreaming) about Monterey Trees, where I explain in more detail how I process my photos, and how they deviate from my usual work in that I apply a texture and a tone to my images.
BEAUTY OF YOUTH
Although the Monterey Trees series is centered on the concept of resilience, defined as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress”, and most of my subjects display scars left in them by difficult conditions, I thought I should include at least one subject that looks yet untried by life’s difficulties.
The conditions in Monterey County are harsh on trees. The relentless wind, thin soil, and salt from the ocean, are challenges that the Monterey Cypress, among other local trees, have endured in the course of their evolutionary histories. More recently, the resilience of these local trees has been further challenged by drought, bark beetle infestations and urbanization, all of which have contributed to the death of many cypresses. Sadly, scientists have predicted that most of the still living Cypress trees of Monterey will be dead within the next 20 years.
The tree in the featured image, although very close to the beach and along a bike and pedestrian path and the street, looks very healthy and pompous, defying the local conditions. It reminds me of young people, full with energy and beauty in form, even though sometimes they don’t treat their bodies very well.
“Youth is lost on the young”.
Despite the fact that the tree looks healthy, one can notice that the branches are growing asymmetrically on the tree, suggesting that the wind blows harder from the left to the right side of the frame.
POPULARITY
If social my media feedback is a sample from which I can draw provisional conclusions, my collection of images in Monterey Trees is the least favored by the public. I have fun trying to find more subjects for this project, and figuring out how to properly photograph each one. Throwing your work out there to risk having it rejected is not easy, and every artist, wether publicly acclaimed or self-proclaimed, needs a good deal of resilience to persevere, and courage to learn and grow from one’s failures.
TEST PRINTS
The test prints for this series look beautiful on Hahnemühle papers with a warm tone and some texture. A fellow blogger (thank you, Howard) did a test print of one for me on Hahnemühle Museum Etching, which I liked very much. But since this paper is not widely available, I tested-printed a few of the other photos on Hahnemühle William Turner, Photo Rag, and also on canvas. They all look excellent to me. I ordered one print sample on William Turner with deckled edge. I wanted to see how it looks like. I like the finish and I think that it agrees well with the “spirit” of the collection.
In a previous blog post titled “Monterrey Dreaming,” I provided more detailed explanations about my process of photo editing for the Monterey Trees series. Unlike my usual work, these images deviate by incorporating texture and tone.
Click on the link to see the rest of my Monterey Trees image series.
RESOURCES
A follower posted a comment with a link, on my last post about Monterey Trees. The link is to a poem (with an accompanying picture) in a magazine, published in 1914, about a windswept tree in WY. I’m happy to know that a century ago someone saw what I see in those trees.
If you want to learn more about the Monterey Cypress, an endangered species, there is a good article on Wikipedia.
I have a few previous posts about photography projects and series, where I discuss the possible benefits of working that way and some difficulties I have encountered in my own work.
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Wall Art landscapes and miscellaneous
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It is all about the light 
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