Ansel Adams was not only an iconic landscape and nature photographer, but he was also a lifelong conservationist who helped expand the network of National Parks in the United States.
I don't even remember exactly when it was, but I saw the photo below by Adams about fifteen years ago and was immediately captivated.
I then decided to take a similar photo of such an impressive, solitary tree one day.
Fast forward to May 2017. We had just moved to De Achterhoek and very soon I had seen a route on the map that I could walk the dog in the morning. On that route I passed a very beautiful, old oak tree. It was apparently meant to be, because from the first glance at that tree I knew that this would be my ‘Ansel Adams tree’. Now it was just a matter of waiting for the right conditions.
And lo and behold, a few weeks later in June it was already time. After a somewhat colder night, a little mist had formed. Moreover, the sun was just high enough at that moment to shine through the foliage of a few other trees, so that the underside of the trunk caught a little sunlight.
This very first photo is still my favorite and the black and white version of it hangs framed on the wall at home. Nevertheless, I continued to take photos of this magnificent oak when the circumstances were special. I also took photos from other angles, but in my opinion there is only one point from which the tree is shown to its best advantage. I think this is because at that point the separation from the surrounding trees is the best and from that position you also have the best view of the thick trunk and branches. Below are some photos from the years after.
Fairly recently I discovered that the tree even has its own Wikipedia page. And well, if that tree is indeed about 250 years old, then it is of course not surprising that more people have had this tree in the viewfinder of their camera over time. The photos below were probably taken about 80 to 100 years ago. They come from the archive of a neighbor and I think it is great to see how the tree looked at that time.
By the way, a few weeks ago a large branch with a diameter of 33 centimeters broke off. Sad to see of course, but as you can read on that Wikipedia page, it has stood in hotter fires. On to the 300 years I would say!
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