Bristlecone2
Feb, 2016Views
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texaaronpueschel
August 19, 2021
Good eye for abstracts in nature. Mono composition does so well on this.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
This tree lives in the ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest outside of the town of Big Pine, California, on the eastern side of the Sierras. This site also contains the Methuselah Tree, which until recently was thought to be the oldest living thing in the world at nearly 5,000 yrs old. The area is rich in photographic opportunities from high mountain lakes to the Mojave Desert and Racetrack Alley.Time
We arrived here mid-morning, after coming down from an area northwest of Bishop, California called South Lake which has steep mountain peaks up to 12,000 feet and backcountry lakes brimming with wild trout. This area of the Inyo National Forest could not be a more different landscape. Barren and Mars-like, there is a short hike of a few miles that allows you to walk around these ancient relics. Although they do not appear it, these trees are alive and well, growing as the rain, dew, or winter snow allows. The soil is dry and the winds are harsh up here, and the road is closed during most of the winter due to weather.Lighting
Because I converted this to black and white, the lighting to me was most important to expose the rich bark of the trees and enhance the gnarled limbs. In reality, the blue sky behind the tan trees were nice but didn't quite pop to me in the story I was trying to tell.Equipment
My setup at the time was a Canon EOS-20D with a EF 24-105mm L IS USM lens and a EW-83H hood. Since there was plenty of light, I did not use a tripod but I do carry a carbon Manfrotto when hiking most of the time.Inspiration
The trees in the Bristlecone Pine Forest grows at around 10,000ft of elevation up a long and winding road that rises out of the Mojave. The trees are several thousand years old and the feeling you get here is one of stillness and awe. These were being germinated 2,000 BC or before. If you are lucky enough to have the place to yourself, it would be easy to think you were the only person alive. I tried to capture a sense of the tree that allowed you to get lost in the texture and beauty of the wood.Editing
The image was coverted using Silver Efex Pro, which used to be part of a wonderful bundle of software from Nik, that also made Snapseed for mobile processing. Nik (the company) was purchased by Google who in early 2016 made the whole bundle (not Snapseed) available for free on their website. There are some fantastic learning tools and videos.In my camera bag
It depends on the trip. If I am traveling to some foreign destination, I usually carry a bit more equipment, but for this kind of hiking I now have a Canon 5D MKIII with just two lenses, the 24-105mm and a 100-300mm, both USM L glass. I always felt that the glass comes first so I invested in L glass while I still had a 20D, then a 7D and finally the 5D. For hiking a Manfrotto carbon 3-section and global travel a Manfrotto aluminum 4-section, both with a Really Right Stuff ball head. I have a Speedlight, macro lens, and 1.4x teleconverter as needed.Feedback
There were a lot of different angles around this tree from having similar trees in the background, to purely framed by the sky. In the end, my favorite blended a little bit of the barren landscape in the background. See more of my pics and leave your feedback at https://www.viewbug.com/member/wanderinjon or my bog at http://www.wanderinjon.com.
