Tree and Granite Wall. Yosemite National Park, California. February 23, 2012. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
A single tree grows against the face of a granite wall, Yosemite National Park, California
I’m well acquainted with this tree, though there is always more to learn about such things. It is next to a Yosemite road that I drive regularly, and near a location that I frequently stop to photograph in all seasons. Most often I’m not photographing this tree, but some other nearby subjects – but I always end up looking at the tree and considering its situation.
The tree grows very close to an impressively steep cascade of water, but it is not quite within the watercourse itself. Off to one side, it grows almost perfectly straight against the face of a very large chunk of granite that must have long ago fallen from the steep terrain above. While its trunk and branches, like those of many similar Sierra trees, can almost seem closer to rock than to a living thing, the green at the end of the thinner, darkened branches softens its appearance. And there is a bit more to the rock behind the tree if you look closely. There is a complex and varied pattern of lichen across its surface and in places it is broken up by cracks, such as the curving one at upper right whose curve seems to be faintly completed just to the right of the tree trunk.
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.