Tags
Catching the Light, Light, Mariposa Grove, Nature, Sequoia, Time, Trees, Yosemite, Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Valley
Each to their own time. As we are born, and die, and our parts rejoin the earth…a fallen sequoia rests in the forest unaffected, for generations …affording a humble view of our own mortality.
– Photo from YOSEMITE-CATCHING THE LIGHT, Copyright 2011 by Wilson Wyatt Jr. (Click on image for full size)
This image presented unique photographic challenges. I wanted to capture the “feeling” I had in the Mariposa Grove of sequoias, in a cold June rain, as a small being among these giants that have endured three generations of “guests” in the forest. So, Time was one quality to capture. Lighting was another issue. How does a photographer render the many shades of “black” in the tangled ancient roots from this tree…a root ball almost three stories tall…while capturing the array of greens from the moss and surrounding forest, without the image being “blown out” by the sky? I also wanted the image to portray the dimension of size, comparing this mammoth to its surroundings, like the old, broken trail fence and the new growth of young trees. So often, nature is impossible to replicate. A photographer can only do his best.
This fallen tree will remain here, unchanged, long after I depart this earth…but I had the opportunity to witness it in my lifetime.
WILSON WYATT JR 
That is such a beautiful photo. And so interesting how you described in what way you were trying to “capture” all that you see in this picture. I also tried very hard to capture a tree that had fallen in the forest when i was in Washington, and very difficult to completely express in your photo all that you see, and the timelessness of what you are viewing. Hard to imagine all that has happened on earth since the day that this tree fell to the earth . Lovely capture Wilson…. Jeanne
I was fortunate to spend time here this past July. My husband and I were in complete awe of this place! A profound feeling of timelessness and continuity fills your soul as you walk among these giants. I took so many pictures to try and capture the feelings that swept through me as I walked among these ageless trees. Though I got some pretty good shots, it’s hard to transfer feelings to photos. Not impossible, though!! Thanks for sharing. This is an excellent photo.