Joy of Photography, Volume 2

This poor bastard. We bought this Japanese maple during our landscape extravaganza back in 2003. I don't know where we thought it would be planted, given that it regularly tops 100 degrees in Concord in the summer, with a UV index of 10. It's on the patio in a half barrel on wheels, so we can wheel it into the shade in the summer. For the first couple of years, none of the other trees in the yard were mature enough to cover it. We've had to put a market umbrella over it to shade it, and even that isn't enough on the hottest days. See the crispy little leaves near the bottom of the picture? Maybe next year we'll find a suitably shady place for it in the yard.

I like this picture's linear elements - the rigid umbrella frame behind the organic arches of the bark. I also really like the way the bright coral pops out from the cool tones of the canvas.