One of the requirements for classes in Visual Communication with an emphasis on Photography, is to shoot every week. One would think finding something different to shoot on a weekly basis would be an easy thing. The world is full of myriad subjects, but for someone who works full time, it can be a challenge to find something I deem interesting.

During a visit to see my Mom in 2009, camera in hand, I talked my sister into driving me around the local area. When I saw a promising scene, she’d stop, and I’d get out to see what I could capture. A hollowed-out tree stump with a vine growing in the center and out through the top caught my eye. The background was terrible, but I loved the tree. I stored it on a hard drive and thought nothing more of it.

Looking for inspiration for a new composite, I ran across the image. With the new Photoshop CC extracting it was much easier than it used to be.  That completed, unsure what I wanted to create, I began to browse images with the feeling that I’d know it when I saw it. And, I did. I dragged the hollowed-out tree into the background image of a lonely snowy night scene and immediately knew it was destined to be special.

Trial and error finally yielded what I consider one of my finest creations. Wavering between naming it Life or Hope, I sent it to my graphic artist nephew, Larry, and he summed it up. “It’s like an oasis or determination of existence in the cold world.” Exactly. Hope it is.