Angel Oak

I mentioned earlier that I would much rather come back from a trip with one really good shot than a dozen mediocre ones. Well, I feel like I got that one. The weather was a bust in New England so after a few days of R&R in Pennsylvania we headed home. While in PA I was looking through a book on the world’s incredible trees. One that caught my eye was located on St. Johns Island. It is known as the Angel Oak. Considered one of the oldest living things east of the Rockies at 1500 years, this majestic oak covers over 17,000sf of ground. After a long trip of overcast weather I arrived at the Angel Oak greeted by bright sun and clear skies. Exactly what I didn’t want. The one day I wanted the clouds I got sun. The only way to get the shot I wanted of the tree was to wait it out. Eventually the sky started forming small puffy clouds that would cross in front of the sun for a minute at a time, just enough to get what I needed. This was the shot that made the whole trip. You can see the slightly dappled light on the ground from the sun just starting to reappear from behind the cloud during the exposure. I knew I had the shot. I was smiling the rest of the way to FL.