This is my most favorite photograph I have ever taken. This is a shot of the famous Angel Oak Tree located near Charleston, South Carolina. I have seen tons of photos of this tree both online as well as the small gift shop located at the tree but I have never seen a shot like this. What makes this shot so special are the rays of light shooting through the huge tree branches.
I was truly lucky to get this shot. My wife and I went to visit this tree while on our honeymoon and she can tell you that I was very excited to see this massive tree. As we were driving up to the tree I realized that I didn't have one piece of essential equipment, my tripod. I really like to use my tripod as much as possible but this time I had to try to hand-hold the shot and hope that it comes out sharp and in-focus. As we walked around the tree, I began to take various detail shots but it just wasn't working for me so I know that a wide-angle shot was the one I was after. I began to take a couple wide shots but I still wasn't happen. Since it was a really sunny day, the highlights were way to blown out and the shadows were way to dark. Feeling like I failed at my mission, we visited the gift shop located next to the tree and were about to leave. Inside were various photos taken by local photographers and knowing that I didn't get the shot I wanted just began to eat me up. While my wife was looking at various things in the store, I slipped out the door again to try to get a couple more shots and I am very happy I did. I composed my camera to get one last shot and the rays of sun just shot through the tree! I snapped the shot and this is the result. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.
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