King George Arbutus
Like yesterday’s post, this is from last week’s walk to Anderson Hill Park. The tree is an arbutus (Arbutus menziesii) on the eastern slope of Gonzales Hill next to King George Terrace, in Oak Bay (map link).
By this time of the walk the light was getting really low, but the way that the trunk of this arbutus was lit caught my eye which is probably why I did not pay sufficient attention to getting all the crown of the tree in the frame. Arbutus are one of my favourite trees – I grew up on a property with a grove of these trees and others outside most of the windows of the house. They keep leaves on year round, have a brightly coloured bark that peels off in sheets to reveal other colours beneath and get clusters of white flowers and then red berries in season. A very attractive, and somehow mediterranean, tree that grows only in a very small part of south coastal British Colombia and also in parts of Washington and Oregon. It is commonly referred to as madrone, in reference to its close relative the strawberry tree. It is an exceptionally dense wood, it can be carved, but usually when green. To work with it in carpentry, it needs to be cut into quite thin strips and laminated in order to avoid warping. But, it can make a terrific counter top (for instance) when done this way – durable as anything and a beautiful reddish colour. Find out more about this plant here if it interests you.
I’m not often a fan of the soft focus treatment, but I think it suits this picture with such a round subject and the content in the corners.
Canon EOS 5DMkii with Canon 50mm/1.4 lens. Shot at f1.4, 1/25th second (handheld, got lucky), ISO 1250.
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burnt embers 
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Hi ehpem – nice shot! I too love arbutus, and grew up in this region with these lovely sinewy trees. When we go boating up north, I’m always pleased on the homeward journey when we reach “the land of arbutus” – meaning we’re getting close to home. You might be interested in seeing my photo of an arbutus (shot on Gabriola) which is linked from my newest blog post (which is about another lovely local tree, with the main photo taken in your neck of the woods).
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Hi Laurie,
I was admiring your Garry Oak post the other day, but did not click through to the Arbutus shot, which is great. The black and white shot does not do justice to the Arbutus colour or bark or general feel really. It made a nice black and white photo, but not a great shot of Arbutus. People that want a feel for the tree would do well checking out your photo. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
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Hey there, sorry I’ve been missing in action, crazy busy time…how I’ve missed visiting.
I would agree with you regarding the soft focus working in this image, adds a dream-like quality to it. 😀
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Hi David – and I missed your frequent visits and comments. Welcome back, I hope you had a good holiday period and wish you and your family all the best for 2012.
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wonderful image!
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mimo – thank you so much.
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I awarded you the Liebster Blog award! Congrats! Here’s the link: http://jayjaysfavorites.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/liebster-blog-award-candle-lighter-award/
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Judy, thank you so much, I am honoured and flattered, especially as we have only just become aware of each other’s blogs in the past week or so. I was just working up to posting about the versatile bloggers award that I was recently given as well, now I will do both together, soon 🙂 In fact, I became aware of your blog by following a chain of awarders/awardees (is that grammatical?) when researching my versatile award response.
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I’ve never seen this type of tree before but they do tend to have beautiful shape. And the bark is very nice. I have a portfolio of tree bark but I confess I can’t identify most of them. I’m working on that.
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Hi oneowner – many artists around here paint and draw arbutus bark, it is really special. I will have to photograph it sometime to show you what I mean.
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I LOVE this shot, my friend! The Arbutus is a focus of ours as well, it’s a truly wonderful little tree-friend to photograph. I love the mono processing you’ve used here to really bring all the drama out of the scene, and the selective and soft focal point really brings all the emotion out for us all to enjoy. Absolutely top drawer!
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Hi Toad – thank you so much. Glad to have support on this kind of processing – much of it is still new to me.
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Hello Sally – these trees are pretty amazing in the areas they choose to gow – a crack in the bedrock without any noticeable soil is typical, a compacted gravel road, in the foundations of an abandoned building. They are a force of nature cracking up the bedrock and hard surfaces left behind by humans.
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Lovely, and shows a touch of nature’s power over human nature (the houses in the background), Sally
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