50027
Bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) snag at night with star trails, White Mountains, Inyo NF, CA, USA (light-painted)
Bristlecone pines live in dry, cold, isolated mountain ranges in the Great Basin. They are the oldest living trees on earth; some are still thriving after more than 4,000 years of existence. But even these trees can’t live forever—this one died many years before I made this image, leaving only a weathered, photogenic snag.
On a frigid September night at an elevation of 11,000 feet in the White Mountains, I painted this bristlecone snag with light from a flashlight, then left the shutter open for more than an hour to record the star trails.
50027
Bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) snag at night with star trails, White Mountains, Inyo NF, CA, USA (light-painted)
Bristlecone pines live in dry, cold, isolated mountain ranges in the Great Basin. They are the oldest living trees on earth; some are still thriving after more than 4,000 years of existence. But even these trees can’t live forever—this one died many years before I made this image, leaving only a weathered, photogenic snag.
On a frigid September night at an elevation of 11,000 feet in the White Mountains, I painted this bristlecone snag with light from a flashlight, then left the shutter open for more than an hour to record the star trails.