I’ve always loved the beautiful red trunks of the Madrone tree since I was introduced to them by a friend in the wild of a Redwood forest in coastal Northern California. Since then, I’ve seen them as decorative yard trees in Southern California and this one was in a Manhattan Beach city curbside street planter. The thing I love beyond the red coloration is the twisting trunks that seem to randomly turn and gently grow in another direction multiple times. These trees are never straight. Shooting here, I was struck by the bright green of the grasses in the planter that contrasted with the red of the curving trunk.