Ancient Bristlecone Pine Tree: Taken at the Inyo National Forest in eastern California. C&C welcome.

DavidT Loc: Maryland

Taken at the Inyo National Forest in eastern California. C&C welcome.

Ancient Bristlecone Pine

(Download)

djtravels Loc: Georgia boy now

Can't say enough good things about this photo. Composition...spot on, texture really great, good control of open sky's lighting, and clever use of sepia tones. Like very much. djt

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

This is beautiful. I am not usually a sepia fan but it works well here to bring out the texture and grain in the wood. I think you did the right thing putting it dead center in the frame as it brings your focus immediately to the twisted gnarled old tree.

DavidT Loc: Maryland

djtravels wrote:

Can't say enough good things about this photo. Composition...spot on, texture really great, good control of open sky's lighting, and clever use of sepia tones. Like very much. djt

Thank you. I first processed this image in color, but it had a different impact than I intended. As a B&W, the shape and texture of the tree stands out.

DavidT Loc: Maryland

Country's Mama wrote:

This is beautiful. I am not usually a sepia fan but it works well here to bring out the texture and grain in the wood. I think you did the right thing putting it dead center in the frame as it brings your focus immediately to the twisted gnarled old tree.

Thank you for commenting. I don't typically process in B&W and rarely sepia (actually, this is cream-tone). But, in color, the polarized blue sky seemed to distract one's attention from the tree itself. In B&W, the tree branches stand out better.

BTW, I became fascinated with these ancient bristlecone pine trees. They grow in the harshest environment (10,000 ft high with little moisture). It takes 100 years to grow 1 inch in diameter. And, dead trees don't decay because of the cold, dry environment. This dead tree is probably 2000-3000 years old.

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

As nice a piece of sepia work as I have ever seen. It's not my favorite color, but it worked really well here. I love the diagonal flow to the tree trunk, and I have always loved the texture of wood. This is the kind of photo that makes me want to start planning a trip to eastern California. Well done. Very well done.

DavidT Loc: Maryland

Bob Yankle wrote:

As nice a piece of sepia work as I have ever seen. It's not my favorite color, but it worked really well here. I love the diagonal flow to the tree trunk, and I have always loved the texture of wood. This is the kind of photo that makes me want to start planning a trip to eastern California. Well done. Very well done.

That's quite a compliment. Thank you. I love eastern California. It is completely different than western California...it feels like the old West and, best of all, has very little traffic!

Nightski

To me, David, this photo illustrates the reason for black & white. Every twist and turn of this gnarly old tree is brought out in the many tones .. colour would have been such a distractrion from it. It's beautifully framed and you did a great job of combating the contrasty light.

DavidT Loc: Maryland

Nightski wrote:

To me, David, this photo illustrates the reason for black & white. Every twist and turn of this gnarly old tree is brought out in the many tones .. colour would have been such a distractrion from it. It's beautifully framed and you did a great job of combating the contrasty light.

Thank you, and, yes, taming the contrasty light took some work. I've recently been experimenting with luminosity masks, and they seem to have done a decent job in this case.

Erdos2 Loc: Vancouver, WA

DavidT wrote:

Taken at the Inyo National Forest in eastern California. C&C welcome.

Wow. I can't think of a single thing I would even consider changing. This image, as it is, could do very well in many contests.

Jerry

DavidT Loc: Maryland

Erdos2 wrote:

Wow. I can't think of a single thing I would even consider changing. This image, as it is, could do very well in many contests.

Jerry

Funny you should mention contests. I plan to submit a matted print of this image in our local camera club contest tomorrow.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

DavidT wrote:

Funny you should mention contests. I plan to submit a matted print of this image in our local camera club contest tomorrow.

Let us know how you do. I am going to guess very well.

ediesaul

DavidT wrote:

Taken at the Inyo National Forest in eastern California. C&C welcome.

You've received kudos from some of the best photographers on the Hog so please take my own comments for the less-than-two-cents they're worth. I think you picked an interesting specimen that could have been depicted better. Many parts are over-exposed, and, it seems to me, over-grainy, as if you over-sharpened the image in post-processing. Maybe I'm wrong. Also, for me, the sepia doesn't work; I'd prefer straight black-and-white, but that's an artist's preference.

manofhg Loc: Knoxville, TN

I really like this image just the way it is. Now that ediesaul mentions it, I would be curious to see what it would look like in B&W. If there is anything I would consider, and this is small mind you, on the bottom left corner, I would consider eliminating the hill in the distance that is leading up to the left. I would let the plants at the base be the horizon.

As for areas being overexposed, I don't believe that is really a problem and I don't find enough grain visible to make it one of my pictures.

If you do nothing to change this picture, you certainly still have a winner and it may be that if you make my suggested change, it will be worse.

I love the arid areas of the planet.

jim hill Loc: Springfield, IL

DavidT wrote:

Taken at the Inyo National Forest in eastern California. C&C welcome.

Great angle excerpt it leans a little to the right. That may have been the case but I have seen this particular tree done by Weston, Adams and White, amongst a few others and they do not let it's mass lean.

I do like your light as it sets everything in relief so kudos for that. As to how it makes me feel I think you are trying to direct my thoughts by use of strong sepia.

For those not familiar with the glorious things to be found in the Inyos this is but one example of many. It's loaded with photographic fodder.

Great tree. Hope it last for another couple thousand years. Generally speaking, a good job with an overshot tree. A little different that most others I have seen.