As you may be aware a Sequoia “Fairy Ring” is something rather special. Revered by the native indians such a relatively rare phenomenon requires many hundreds of years to come to maturity. As an old Sequoia begins to die shoots emerge from the roots all around the large mature tree. Initially combined via this route system, eventually each emerging shoot develops its own route system and becomes, if the offshoots are themselves not damaged or injured, part of a ring of fully fledged Sequoias around the dead or dying ‘parent’. Eventually there will be, after many hundreds of years, no trace of the original tree. I wanted to capture the spiritual element of such a place, the awe inspiring natural wonder in a place which is so dependent on the long dead and absent ‘parent’ tree. A place which will have seen so many generations of life around it and within it as it slowly develops to maturity on a timescale which is for us almost incomprehensible. The Image is a SINGLE (8 second) exposure (Sigma DP1 Quattro / ISO 100 / f16) of an intact Sequoia ring discovered by chance in California and has only been corrected for colour, contrast, etc..
A larger view of the image is HERE.
Cheers, Mark
Comments
4 commentsThis is a lovely abstract, but not so abstract that you can't see the individual trees. I think you have done a good job at capturing the spiritual feeling of this phenomenon of the dead parent and the remaining ring of trees. I wonder if you considered burning down the large trunk in the upper left corner...it grabs my eye a little, which is only a minor nit.
A very cool image of this phenomenon! I like the symmetry and the perspective of looking straight up into the center of the ring. Nicely done!
How very cool , wonderfully crafted !!
Hi Mark
Being a tree lover, i really appreciate your text and wonderful capture>>> Congrats on the WP
Albert Darmo
Canada