I have photographed his tree at Tenby Point in Westernport Bay many times over the years. While it is an obvious subject along the shoreline and has been photographed by many people, a great capture is rare. This is due to 3 natural factors: the weather, the time of day and the tides.

So, after many unsuccessful attempts in my back pocket, I was happy to arrive on this day in almost perfect condition.

With only the slightest breeze, the tree had very little movement. With almost no waves on an outgoing tide, capturing the reflecting colours on the water with a relatively short, long exposure, obtainable with just a polarising filter, was easy. Adding to this the very photogenic clouds that hung the early morning colours of the sun, everything was on my side.

As the tide was receding, I knew my time was limited, so working quickly, I managed to capture an array of different compositions at different exposures, including one with the infrared filter.

Of all the images, I found this one to work the best. The tide was just low enough to expose the leading line of the log in the foreground while maintaining the beauty of the water around it, and while colours in the sky had slightly subsided by this time, the extra light on the tree was worth it.