A spring ritual - 4 years in a row shooting this scene with varying degrees of success.
This is a montage - an overlay of two images of the same scene. One is in sharp focus and the second is overexposed and totally out of focus (a large colored blur). The out of focus image provides the ethereal glow.
Here's 2006 - http://www.pbase.com/ed_k/image/58672945 - and 2005 - http://www.pbase.com/ed_k/image/42306502 - still looking for 2004. Different white balance setting and lighting conditions resulted in different redbud "reds". This year's is intentionally "warm"; last year's was decidedly "cool"; 2005's is the most accurate color rendition IMO.
2005 & 2006 were shot from a spot about 50 feet from here. That spot is in the center of the pine grove & is more heavily shaded than the site of the 2007 redbud. The 05-06 trees weren't fully open yet so I opted for this alternate location where the tree was in full bloom. Back to the original site next week.