I have always loved trees. I would say that I have loved trees for a long time.

When Tolkien wrote about The Ents, I was fascinated. The idea of having shepherds for the trees is intriguing. In my opinion, we need shepherds for trees, considering the alarming rate at which we are getting rid of them.

In India, as in many parts of the world, forests are being cleared away at a rather alarming rate. An article in The Quint will give you an indication of the complexity of the situation. Politicians typically try to gloss the issue over. The degradation is a shame. They will be gone, but our descendants will have to pay for our sins. Al Jazeera states that by 2050, the world will lose a forest area equivalent to the size of India. We, in India, are struggling to maintain 22% forest cover. The target is 33%.

Tree Bark 1I took this image of the tree bark in McLeodGanj. I was walking down from one of the temples on the top of the hill to the main town below. I have always loved the structures and patterns on trees, of water and the like.
The question was - how do I highlight the thin strands on the bark?

I live at the edge of the Aravalli forests. The Aravalli is an ancient forest and hill range that is slowly disappearing. Experts believe (I don’t have the links, sadly) that, if this continues, then Delhi will gradually become a desert.

Trees are beautiful, and it takes a moment to stand next to a tree, to run your fingers down the trunk and appreciate the beauty of the texture.

Trees are diverse. The patterns, sizes, leaf cover, textures offer us a breath-taking diversity.

In Delhi, we are lucky to have many trees, but for how long?

How do you define development? Cutting down trees and raising columns of concrete and steel?

The loss of diversity, the warming of the planet will be our reward.

When I edited this image, I did not think of environmental concerns. All I wanted to do, was highlight the beauty of the texture, as it glittered in the afternoon sun of Palampur.

The light that afternoon was beautiful. The air was clean and fresh, and  Mother Nature was happy. I stood in the shadow of the Dauladhar mountains. Life was good.

When I edited the image – I converted the image to black and white using Tony Kuyper’s TK7 panel – all I thought of, was the light, the texture and the beauty of the tree that I had photographed.