Ancient Bristlecone Forest above Bishop, CA

CatOne · September 3, 2008

Marc, Phil, and I went shooting 3 times in 3 days. Got a few I liked.

A couple I've put up here in other threads but these have a little PP applied in Aperture.

Gallery is here:

http://blloyd.smugmug.com/gallery/5869057_weNGX#365075917_R3NJV

C&C welcome!

bryanj87 · September 3, 2008

Fantastic series! 4 and 5 are spectacular. These trees have so much character, they make great subjects!

schmoo · September 3, 2008

Whoever thought dead wood could be so lovely?

What I think I like most about your approach is the variety of conditions you captured these trees. Sunset and warm light is all good (some of these I think are just a bit too warm) but adding the star trails too, mmmmm.

#3: Polarizer or masking?

The silhouette shot is just killer

CatOne · September 3, 2008

schmoo wrote:

Whoever thought dead wood could be so lovely?

What I think I like most about your approach is the variety of conditions you captured these trees. Sunset and warm light is all good (some of these I think are just a bit too warm) but adding the star trails too, mmmmm.

#3: Polarizer or masking?

The silhouette shot is just killer

Thanks!

#3 is a polarizer. I didn't round trip any photos to Photoshop because I didn't feel like spending a few hours remembering how to create an adequate mask

Thanks on the silhouette. That's what we had the second we hopped out of the car at the Patriarch Grove so it was a sprint. Marc had to carry a big video camera so he took a little longer to get over there. Actually he had the still camera as well... I think he could carry more than the pack mules we used the previous week. If the photography thing doesn't work out he can get a job in a beautiful place

SteveF · September 3, 2008

Hey Bill,

3rd one is my favorite - really like the light on the tree as well as it's strong placement in the fg. Ideally would have had some clouds, but that's the way the atmosphere goes.

4th is clearly a cool shot. The tree seems a touch overlit for my tastes, and the milky way coming right out of the top is a little odd unless you know what it is.

The silhouettes are awesome - like the vertical and horizontal equally.

Looks like the extra few days were quite productive. Nice stuff.

ian408 · September 3, 2008

You got some nice light. That's for sure.

I like the silhouette & star trails (the tree looks a little creepy in that one

).

tlee · September 4, 2008

Wonderful images. I like the shapes/silhouettes of dead trees.

hawkeye978 · September 4, 2008

Love the series, 3 and 4 are my favorites. The light is fantastic and in 3 I like the way the sunlight is isolating the tree.

jeffmeyers · September 4, 2008

Great images! How did you do the star trail shot?

CatOne · September 4, 2008

jeffmeyers wrote:

Great images! How did you do the star trail shot?

The stars were 30 minutes @ f/8 with ISO 400. The tree was a couple 5-second paints with a bright light... maybe 2 million candlepower?

All you really need to do is find a few test shots to see how bright the tree gets when you hit it with a flashlight. The star exposure isn't going to change, so you set up the shot, do a 30 minute exposure, and paint the tree for the right exposure and then hunker down and have a beer, a glass of port (hell, just take a pull from the bottle itself), some cheese and crackers, or however you want to pass the time at 10,500'

Awais Yaqub · September 4, 2008

Amazing you got great photos in gallery too !

Marc Muench · September 4, 2008

You must have been running while shooting, because I know we did not have much time in these locations and yet you have images of many trees I did not see. #5 is a piece of work

These look good Bill and if you do take the time to mask I think some of these shots would be worth the trouble and time.

I spoke with Dean, our camp cook while in the Sierras, and he told me someone tried to set fire to the Schulman Grove visitor center this morning

Hard to believe what some folks are thinking

CatOne · September 4, 2008

Marc Muench wrote:

You must have been running while shooting, because I know we did not have much time in these locations and yet you have images of many trees I did not see. #5 is a piece of work These look good Bill and if you do take the time to mask I think some of these shots would be worth the trouble and time.

I spoke with Dean, our camp cook while in the Sierras, and he told me someone tried to set fire to the Schulman Grove visitor center this morning Hard to believe what some folks are thinking

I didn't have to portage a franken-video-tripod so I was way more nimble. Made the 11,300' elevation feel like 10,200'... easy

Ridiculous that someone would try and set fire to the visitor center! You sure it wasn't static buildup on a pekinese or something that an old lady was carrying? Its really dry up there... I could see it happening

a110p0 · September 7, 2008

Visitor Center Burned Down
I heard that the Bristlecone Visitor Center just burned down.
http://www.inyoregister.com/content/view/115529/1/

I was there a few years ago and it was a nice little building and
a welcome respite from the cold and wind.

Alvin

CatOne · September 7, 2008

a110p0 wrote:

I heard that the Bristlecone Visitor Center just burned down.
http://www.inyoregister.com/content/view/115529/1/

I was there a few years ago and it was a nice little building and
a welcome respite from the cold and wind.

Alvin

Wow. I was in there Sunday. That was a very, very nice visitor center. :cry :cry

ian408 · September 8, 2008

a110p0 wrote:

I heard that the Bristlecone Visitor Center just burned down.
http://www.inyoregister.com/content/view/115529/1/

I was there a few years ago and it was a nice little building and
a welcome respite from the cold and wind.

Alvin

That is seriously too bad. The BCP forest is one of those things that I bet doesn't get a lot of money and rebuilding will likely be difficult.

Ancient Bristlecone Forest above Bishop, CA

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