drop and give me your best photo!

This month's photo contest at Gardening Gone Wild is all about perspective. David Perry challenged his readers to get down on the ground and shoot from knee-level or below. He wants shots that evoke a visceral response, shots that look at a (perhaps common) garden object in a way that's fresh and unexpected.

This is a challenge after my own heart. I carry a rain poncho in my camera bag so I can get down & dirty with whatever subject catches my eye, even if it's rained the night before. Who wants to miss a great shot just because the ground is a little squishy?

This copper beech is in my sister Sarah's yard. It's a magnificent tree from any angle, but when you're lying on your back, looking up I-don't-know-how-many-feet, the sense of exhileration and vertigo is remarkable. I took tens of shots, but this one pleased me most. I think the placement of the out-of-focus trunk in the upper right quadrant adds a sense of dizziness.

It's a noble tree that dwarfs us all.