Ansel’s Tree. Yosemite National Park, California. June 16, 2008. © Copyright 2014 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Black and white photograph of the snag that is all that remains of the tree in Ansel Adam’s famous photograph from the summit of Sentinel Dome in Yosemite National Park
This is all that remains of the Jeffrey Pine atop Sentinel Dome that was the subject of the famous Ansel Adams photograph. Somewhere I even have my early attempts at trying to do the “Ansel Adams thing” with my black and white film camera when I was much younger — one or more photographs of this very tree, while it was still alive.
I photographed this close-up “portrait” many years after the tree died, while on a quick hike over to the summit of Sentinel Dome along the Glacier Point Road. Things changes slowly in the Sierra, but they do change. This is now, objectively speaking, another dead snag atop a Yosemite granite dome — however, this snag has achieved a sort of iconic status. Yet, perhaps there will eventually be another, maybe even the younger tree seen in the background beyond the dead stump.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.
Thanks, Charlie. I hadn’t been up there for a few years either, but I found myself with an extra hour or so on the way to Glacier Point and thought, “what the heck!”
As you know, that famous tree is not the only one on the summit, though it did (does?) occupy an almost central spot. As I visited it on this trip I thought about several things: Seeing the Ansel Adams photograph as a very young person (an image that became iconic for me), my own attempts to photograph it “Ansel style” at a younger age… and thoughts about what other tree might eventually (decades? centuries?) achieve a similar status on top of that dome.
It was the latter thought that was in my mind when I photographed the base of the old snag with a narrow aperture, and positioned one of the younger and still vital trees beyond it.
Oh, yeah, and I was also trying to make a photograph that is different from the usual “Sentinel Dome Tree” photos – and one that might resonate for others who share our long acquaintance with that tree.
Dan
Dan, that was an amazing tree. I hear it was the drought in the early 70s that did it in. I have a photograph from 1978 where you can still see a few needles. I haven’t been up to see it since it fell over a few years ago. Your image is very strong, especially considering what’s left! Charlie