Lake Hefner Bench

I've been drawn to this tree and bench at Lake Hefner and photographed it a couple of times before. To me there is something special about the simplicity of it. Somehow it seems both lonely and inviting at the same time.

Actually this area is very popular with normal people, but vacant when only one crazy photographer visits early on a cold, foggy, dismal day. The day was uncomfortable enough that I almost left without getting out of the car.

I had a conversation with myself while sitting in the car having coffee and an apple fritter. "Why am I out here, in this weather, at this early time?" "There's not much interesting here to shoot, I've shot this before, why did I come here?" "OK, burning daylight, I still like that bench and tree, I can sit here and do nothing or get out and maybe get inspired."

Yes, I shot some there and ended up shooting at various locations all around the lake till almost noon. I'd decided to get out on that day because fog was predicted and fog can sometimes add a mood to shots you get on no other days. It was also predicted to be the warmest day of the week, still not so warm it turned out.

I wasn't happy with any shots of this bench and tree until I started playing around with them in post. I typically like rich, deep, contrasty color, but for a moody shot sometimes I go to black and white. For this and a couple more shots made on that day I like removing all but a little color better than going to black and white. I really like this shot, I almost didn't take.