Firm footing

This big old fellow was hanging around the edge of the Guadalupe River in the Texas State Park by the same name.  Me and a buddy were hiking around, taking pictures, and generally enjoying being the only ones there.  It was fairly early on a Sunday morning, and the air was crisp but clear as a bell.  I took a ton of shots at this place - I just love being outdoors and if you can add a river, I love it even more.  The riverbank was covered in roots that were just going in all directions - you really had to pay attention to each step or you could get tripped up easily, which I am describing from experience (ahem).  I just liked the look of this old tree standing there.  The textures and how the trunk sort of twists appealed to me.  Hope you like it too!

This is a 7 exposure HDR taken at f/22.  With the morning sun being so bright, it was easy to use such a narrow aperture and still get plenty of light.  The exposures ranged from +2 to -4.  They were merged into an HDR in Photomatix, then I made some adjustments in PSE (Curves, Contrast, Unsharp Mask) with a final touch in Topaz Adjust.