The second entry into the Orange County Fair this year is one that I planned for well over a year – Bristlecone Moon. The bristlecone pine are the oldest living trees on the planet. The oldest of these is over 4,800 years old. Imagine, not only will it outlive you and I, not only has it outlived our ancestors, but it has outlived whole civilizations.
This tree could well be a couple of thousand years old. That means it was an old tree when Columbus sailed the ocean blue. I love being in the presence of these marvelous beings. It’s like touching eternity.
The photograph was taken in the White Mountains, the ones in California. They straddle the California Nevada border. The trees are at an elevation of 10,000 to 11,000 feet. There are two main groves – Schulman at the end of the paved road and Patriarch another 12 miles up a dirt road.
As I already indicated, I planned this photograph for well over a year. The plan was to capture the full moon rising in the earth shadow behind the tree. The evening this photograph was taken was the night before the full moon. And we were fortunate to stumble across this tree. It’s right beside the dirt road, the one that takes you back to the Patriarch Grove. It had the eastern exposure I was looking for and was a magnificent, solitary specimen.
As the sun set the tree fell into the shadow of a rise directly to the west. So the light was this wonderful open shade, very soft. I sat on the rocky slope content to wait for the moon. And then, there it was.
I chose a composition that deliberately cut off the tips of the branches. This allowed me to place the tree where I wanted it and have it fill as much of the frame as seemed right. I also decided to shoot HDR and I’m glad I did because it did two things – it made it possible to capture the warm radiance on the gnarled trunk and you can clearly see the man in the moon (and the rabbit too). As the moon rose I tried slight variations on the composition. This image shows the tree reaching for the moon as if to embrace it. I like the symbolism that this suggests.
The processing in the digital darkroom did the usual HDR stuff. But I also used a contrast mask technique I often employ that gave very smooth gradations to the tonalities and the colors and that also added to the overall luminance of the image. I was very pleased with the results.
So that’s the story behind Bristlecone Moon. Win or loose, it’s a very meaningful photograph for me and one I’m especially proud of.
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