A Japanese Maple lights up like a lantern as the morning light bursts through an opening in the canopy of the small tree by a pond. It is a wonderful experience to get under a Japanese Maple and explore different things with an ultrawide angle lens and different composition possibilities. Small movements, left or right, up or down, can make major differences in the look and feel of the composition.

It was a creative challenge for me to find an opening in the canopy where a sun star would be possible, along with just the right amount of natural light to illuminate the inside and outside of the tree. I felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment when it all came together in this image, including a good perspective of the tree, a sun star, and wonderful backlit lace-leaf leaves lighting up like a lantern.