The Tree Over The Hill

An overcast day. I went looking for simplicity in the snow blanketed landscape. Not as easy as I'd hoped, because, although we'd had a decent snowfall, it had not tamped down all the vegetation. I liked this tree top poking up over a bit of a rise. It gives a sense of the land beyond.

I had trouble selecting the sky because all the twigs were close in value. At first, I tried to darken them to fit in with the tree, but that looked all wrong and eventually I thought to lighten them. I wanted to give the sky a blue cast, too much perhaps?

Extra: Seed Raiders. A dozen or more American tree swallows, foraging for seeds, preceded me as I walked along the edge of the prairie. As I approached the big willow, they suddenly flew off. I turned up the bank and a hawk flew out of the willow, giving me the answer.