The Serengeti Tree in Autumn - Lone cottonwood on North Dakota field Canvas Print

"Serengeti Tree"
This giant old cottonwood (visible from junction of highway 281 and 19 viewing to NW), shot at sunset on an October evening, is one of my favorite trees in Benson County, if not North Dakota. It was a tree at the "Grandpa Roy Thompson" homestead (house now gone). It always reminds me of those trees you see in the African Serengeti, where the lions hang out.. This cottonwood stands proudly in its vast setting and has survived all the harsh conditions that has been thrown at it over the many decades - I'd guess ~100 years. I like that the farmer hasn't cut/burned it down and just farms around it, leaving it as a very visible testament of tree tenacity.. if you look closely, you’ll see a large lone branch pointing due south- perhaps a suggestion to other trees on where life is a little easier! 😂

Peter Herman was born and raised on a farm in North Dakota. He first became interested in photography during high-school, and after acquiring a Pentax SLR, began taking photos for the school yearbook and developing/printing B&W images in school darkroom. He continued shooting through college, taking portraits, group pictures, weddings, but after beginning his engineering career at Cummins, he let his photography interests go dormant until about 2005 when he acquired his first DSLR and started shooting scenic landscapes from around the US, but concentrating especially on rural areas in ND and WI. Many of his images were encountered while riding motorcycle down random backroads during "golden hour", searching for that magic light...