Lifeless But "Alive" Trees.

Any observant road traveler going to Sematan, a beach town at the western end of Sarawak would have easily notice these "dead but alive" trees by the road side. To be exact, these trees can be found between kilometer fifteen and sixteen, (Kampung Sebiris-Serayan) on the right side of the road if one is traveling from Kuching or Lundu. Hopefully they will keep standing for a long time to come for us to enjoy and admire. Like us, they are part of nature.

Below are pictures of the trees in sets of twos, each in their original form and reinforced versions, shot using Canon Powershot S5IS camera. The reinforced ones are to give some kind of illusionary visions.

This tree, quite hidden if you are traveling from Kuching but obviously visible if from Sematan. This tree is not dead but just shedding it's leaves for new ones. (Untouched)

Reinforced.

Close-up view of it's branches. (Untouched)

Reinforced.

Trunk and branches in close-up view. (Untouched)

Reinforced.

This dead tree,untouched.

Reinforced.

The same dead tree from a slightly different angle. (Untouched)

Reinforced.

Again a twin picture of the same dead tree. (Untouched)

Reinforced.

This tree has been dead for almost thirty years but still stands majestically beautiful. Notice the bird flying pass the trunk which I did not see when this picture was shot.

Some folks in Kampung Serayan believed that this dead tree is haunted. They are stories that bright light are seen on it on certain nights.

The same dead tree taken on an earlier, clear day. (Untouched)

Reinforced.

If one have a camera, just bring it along wherever one goes. May be the pictures that we take are not as good when compared to those taken by professional photographers. But if we feel good about the pictures that we took, then those are good pictures. Good picture subjects are not necessarily always in front of good professional photographers with their good camera gadgets. They can be in front of us just about anytime we think they aren't. And good pictures are not always taken using "good" cameras, but what is most important is the person behind the camera.