Lake Wanaka, Queenstown Lakes District, Otago – New Zealand

Sometimes the sweetest, most beautiful things in life don’t come as easily as we’d like. In fact, sometimes they’re downright hard-won, requiring sacrifice and determination in spades. As a photographer, I can assure you that this is very much true of art. Some of my favorite shots required me to be incredibly resourceful, patient, and adventurous to say the least.

Determination and endurance were definitely the foundation on which this shot was built. I wanted to capture that graceful lone tree out there in the middle of Lake Wanaka and I was determined to get just the right shot. I waded carefully out into the water, which was bone-chillingly cold as it always is in the winter time. I waited quietly for nearly an hour, the bones and muscles in my feet and legs becoming numb, sore, and cramped.

While I was still patiently standing in position, a passerby stopped momentarily to marvel at me standing there watching… waiting. I was watching the tree and this man was watching me in turn – oddly poignant and poetic in retrospect. That determined, lone tree and I felt like two of a kind as I watched for the right moment to present itself and I think that added to the finished product.