| ||
 The Bristlecone pines in the above image were located at the top of a 9,380 foot high ridgeline along the Bristlecone Trail that is located in Lee Canyon, northeast of Mt. Charleston, Clark County, Nevada. I am always looking for ways to better enhance or present some of my photographs. I find that converting a color photo to sepia image not only makes it appear to look older than it really is, it also shows much more depth and definition than the original color image. I thought both of these effects seemed especially appropriate for these centuries old Bristlecone pines; making them “pop” with almost a three-dimensional quality.About Bristlecone Pines: The bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees (Family Pinaceae, genus Pinus, subsection Balfourianae). Bristlecones don't grow very tall, 60 ft. at the most, but usually much less. Girth of the largest one, the Patriarch is 36' 8", and this tree is relatively young at 1,500 years. The average age is about 1,000 years with only a few over 4,000 years. Bristlecones can remain standing for hundreds of years after death. Because of cold temperatures, dry soils, high winds, and short growing seasons, these trees grow very slowly. Their longevity is attributed to the fact that their wood is very dense and resinous, and thus resistant to invasion by insects, fungi, and other potential pests. When they finally fall, it's because the supporting roots finally decay or are undermined by erosion. Dendrochronology is term given to the dating of climatic changes through study of tree ring growth. The analysis of Bristlecones, based upon the comparison of long slender half-inch core samples taken from dead ground wood, standing dead wood and living trees, has proven essential to the building of accurate tree-ring chronologies dating back to almost 9,000 years into the past. This process has proven so accurate that it has even been used to recalibrate the C-14 (carbon dating) process. | ||
Pages
▼
