November, 2008, Outside Boulder, CO.

We had already captured a handful of images, but I continued to scout around the rocky area with the model. Looking over at a lone tree on an outcropping, I took a position on another outcropping 50 feet away that gave a geourgous rim-light profile of both. But to my horror, I realized the sun was hovering just above the ridge to the west and I could already see the darkness encroaching the area below the rocks.

"Can you get out to that tree?!?" I yelled to the model. "What do you want me to do?" "I don't know, just get out there quick and we'll figure it out!" While he secured his own position and got ready, I was already shooting the scene. I shouted, "Try to bow down to the tree, but use force like you're trying to push it over!" This is the resulting image.

2 minutes later the light was gone.

Many people who ask if the model was really on a given location often point to this image, which puzzled me because I saw no reason to doubt a man could sit on a rock next to a tree. What I realized is that the scale throws the viewer off, thinking that perhaps the rocks were smaller boulders I enlarged for this image. But in Colorado, sometimes things are just big.

Tree, Dominant #1 portrays two figures interacting in strength, but clearly the tree is more perminant and unmoving, and the man must submit to that fact.

Suggested size: Minimum 20" high (or else the figure is too small), Maximum 100" (Ultra High-Resolution Image.) The image can be cropped thin or wide to suit your hanging space. A horizontal crop is also an option, from 10" up to 60" wide.