Not a specific tree, but the idea of one — the shape that every tree shares
This photograph shows a single dry Virginia creeper stem, collected and brought into my home studio, where I photographed it against a neutral grey background using focus stacking — a technique that combines multiple exposures across different focal planes into one image with sharpness throughout. At macro distances and f/13, even a small object like this has too little depth of field for a single frame to hold.
The stem has found, in drying, a shape it could not have planned. A single trunk rises from the bottom, branching as it climbs into a tangle of arms and loops — some reaching outward, some curling back on themselves, one forming a tight spiral at the top. To me it reads as a tree. To others it may be something else: a figure, a gesture, a piece of calligraphy written by a plant that didn’t know it was writing.
I collect these stems over time, watching for the ones whose shapes feel most alive. This one stopped me immediately.
This print works in spaces that reward a second look — a hallway, a study, or anywhere a single object on a pale background can hold attention without competing for it.
EXIF data of the photograph
- Camera Model: NIKON Z 7
- Lens model: Tamron SP 90.0 mm f/2.8 Di Macro VC USD
- Date taken: 24. 1. 2026
- Exposure time: 5.00s
- F-Number: f/13.0
- ISO speed ratings: 64
- Focal length: 90mm
- Size of the photo: 5504 px x 8256 px
