I had a pretty good day today. First off, my employer shut down the office at 1pm and took all the employees golfing. Second, we had a pizza party afterwards and I brought little PJ with. He got pretty tired toward the end, so I threw him in the truck and drove around a bit to help him fall asleep. That’s when I spotted this tree.

I’m no stranger to the tree in these photos. It’s a lone inhabitant of a hill overlooking River Road, just north of Pioneer Park. The housing development on the hill is growing very quickly; the entire area used to be prairie, but now has paved roads cut into it. That means this tree’s cozy environment has been divided into lots, waiting for upscale homes to be built thereon. I wouldn’t be surprised if this little tree becomes a casualty of encroachment, but I’m not about to go out and hug it.

While looking at the couple of photos I took of this tree with the dramatic sky behind it I decided it might make a better night photo. Since I was already in Photoshop to resize and watermark it, I figured I might as well make a “night” version. Add some Hue/Saturation and Curves adjustment layers, and voila’! Night. So…which do you prefer?