Back in February we took a much needed 7-Day Caribbean Cruise (more on that for another time). We started in St. Maarten and concluded in Barbados. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, and the cruise itself was beyond our wildest dreams.

While we were docking into our next to last port of call in Granada, Michael and I were standing on the bow of the ship checking out the city. The colors and lines of the various buildings peppered the mountainside flowing, as if, into the blue waters of the Caribbean coastline.

As we scanned the landscape, we took note of a tree, standing tall on the highest peak of the horizon. A single tree rising up through the brush like a great conqueror of the mountain. Can you see it?

Fortunately, I had packed “the big lens” and was able to zoom in closer.

With the exception of what looked like new, seasonal growth, it was fairly bare compared to the rest of the landscape growing at its base.

Very quickly, and almost in the same breath, Michael and I both commented that it would make a great black and white photo. And so, I switched up my camera settings and took a few shots using the in-camera monochrome setting.

It isn’t a bad shot, but even with some basic modifications it just seemed flat and a little generic. It wasn’t the dramatic, storytelling shot I had envisioned. The clouds to the left of the tree really irritated me in black and white.

So, I went back to the original color photo and played around with the editing settings. After several edits I finally landed on what feels like the tree took on a whole new dimension. Plus, an added bonus of no more clouds to the left of the tree. What do you think?

There’s a lot to be said for the “picture within a picture.” As photographers we learn that multiple perspectives can be found in a single image. This image started out as a landscape photo of the city of Granada and ended up telling a “story” about a single tree off in the horizon.

Until next time,

~donna