Sometimes you don’t know how what you’re missing until it’s gone.
That might sound like something out of the diary of a scorned lover, but what I am referring to is trees. Growing up in Sacramento, California, trees were not just something you saw at the local park or nature reserve. Topiaries lined the sidewalks of downtown streets and filled front yards, backyards, shopping malls – you name it! In fact, someone did name Sacramento the “City of Trees” because of the fact that it contains the most per capita (that’s per person), in the entire world. There’s even a highway-side water tower proclaiming this namesake.
Life without trees was a new concept when I moved to New York City. Now before you protest – I know that there are many places in the city’s boroughs where you will find some wooded solace. However, the difference in leaves that I see in my commute to work now, versus when I would drive around Sacramento, is astounding.
So naturally, I try to capture as much nature on my iPhone as possible when I roam the city. You do catch some trees here and there, but they’re always juxtaposed with what NYC is known for: cars, people, and buildings. That doesn’t make it any less beautiful though!
When we take pictures of people, we are constantly being asked to show the subject the results, retake them if they weren’t looking their best, and then possibly do some in-depth editing in Photoshop afterwards. What is amazing about plant life is that they won’t care and if you don’t have time to ensure the perfect lighting/coloring before taking that photo, Vivid-Pix’s LAND & SEA software can do the trick.
Here are some of the results (before images on the left, after images on the right):
