I used to think that I don’t like olive trees. Years ago when we spent some time on a sailing boat in the Ionian Sea, I thought olive trees just weren’t green enough. My favourite landscape was (and is) Scotland, where there is an overkill of green and freshness. But this year the Greek landscape presented itself in a different light. In my final post on my trip to Karpathos (post 1, 2, 3 and 4) I want to share my love for olive trees.

On the first afternoon I spotted a tree with a beautiful shape. I saw the tree from a restaurant that was on the first floor (or second, if you’re American). I knew I wanted to photograph that tree from a low standpoint, hopefully with a bit of sea in the background. This is the view from the restaurant, with the tree I spotted circled on the left:

When I went back to this location on the next day (late in the afternoon), I made the photo below. I love the light, I love the colors, I love the shape of the tree, and I love the combination of sharp and blurred grass in front of the tree. I love how the yellow of the grass contrasts with the blue, but doesn’t overpower it. And I love how the little bit of vignetting caused by my vintage lens creates some extra depth. It’s also one of the few times that I actually planned an image in advance, I knew what I wanted to make, and it came out how I envisioned it. That doesn’t happen very often. I know it is a simple composition, not very difficult to plan, but still.

But it was only the next day that I realised I hadn’t photographed the tree I spotted, but I photographed the tree I circled on the right (difficult translating a top view to a location on the ground 😉 ). So I had to get back there to make a photo of the left tree. I did the next morning, just before sunrise (and while I was there, I made a photo of the other tree as well):

Although I love purples, and the left tree has arguably a nicer shape, I love the blue photo more. The blue is just really special, and it has a more serene mood, which I like.

Because the second tree has nicer shape, but I love the blue light of the first photo, I tried to combine the two and make photo at the same time of day (late afternoon) of the second tree:

I like the photo, but I still prefer the top one. The blue just isn’t the same. Different day, different light, different angle with respect to the sun, that’s just how it goes. I have to mention though that on photo-sharing sites people disagree with me, as most favour the purple one. Maybe there is also an emotional aspect. I made the blue photo on my fathers birthday. My father passed away a few years ago, before I got serious with photography. I know he would have liked to see these photo’s. I also know he would have given me some critique, probably on composition, most likely also on color, but I would have loved to hear his opinion. So I can’t rule out the possibility that this aspect makes me favour the top blue photo over the other ones.

So far the story of the two trees, but it triggered me to look for more. None of them match the beauty in shape and light of the first one, but sometimes you just have to give trees with slight ugliness a chance, right?

I’ll finish with an olive branch (albeit a big one 🙂 ). Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Disruptive elements such as electricity cables were removed from the photos with lightroom or photoshop.