Taken on a frosty morning in the Hoh Rainforest, Barkscape #1, which I took with a Cell Phone, captures the cycles of death and regeneration in the Temperature Rainforest of the Pacific Northwest. The life of a cedar that has lived for centuries, died, and slowly decayed returuning minerals countless other trees will feed upon as well as fungus (the white domes), ferns, molds and mosses that will convert the remnants of a tree that lived and died centuries before this photo was taken. To see the life signature of the tree, the patterns of growth and regeneration set the stage for renewed interest in photography, and the complex lives of trees. The thrill of observing, coming to learn and being able to bear witness to the lives of these magnificent lifeforms.
The sinuous lines of growth of this Bristlecone Pine indicate the harsh environs for the tree that lives above 10,000 feet. Each twist was rendered over centuries as the tree growsn no more th 1/16 an inch a year.
A wounded tree has become home for lichen (red/orange) and moss (light yellow green). Although the tree may appear a fatally wounded, such arrangements actually can provide the tree protection while it heals trading nutrients, storing water and providing a cushion against further damage.
A piece of Spruch driftwood has collectedly on the shore revealing its long plight in the water in the erosion lines and, its new life on land where algae, fungus and moss accelerate decay bringing the erosion into sharp relief. Such formations in driftwood are common making them prized, and therefore, illegal to collect in the Puget Sound.
A Paperbark Maple Tree located in the Japanese Garden at Washington Park Arboretum. A botanical wonder of the Pacific Northwest, these trees tend to prefer higher elevations and shed bright copper like bark each spring as they grow.
Growing a mere 1/16 of an inch a year and living to be between 3000 and 5000 years old on average, Bristlecone Pine are the oldest living things on earth. Taking into to the highlands during the last ice age, Bristlecone thrive above 10,000 ft where growing season is limited to 1/16 of an inch a year. Featuring fire retardant bark, rock hard wood, lateral roots that anchor them to the rocky ground where intense wind and storms toss them about, their waxy leaves can last 40 years and their cones take 3 years to mature. Pictured here, the growth rings representing a thousand years of growth; a five-inch wide branch that ever so slowly grew into the edge of burl, fixing the sun's light into a permanent record.⠀
Formed when trees are covered by floods or volcanic eruptions---Petrified Wood is a prism of geologic light; each tree is cast in quartz with concentrations of iron, carbon and manganese giving the ancient tree its color. Pictured here, a tree in the Navajo Nation in modern day Northeast Arizona.
The remnants of a downed tree where inner bark material has rotted out and the older, inner branch growth remains. Such finds are rare as they require a number of events to ever come to light including weather, animal who habitate in the downed tree, fungal infections that soften the heartwood and a bit of human help; an accidental cut mark.
An alder tree in the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge tells the story of a recent visit by a bear. The trees, which take their bark color from ground minerals and can store precious metals in their tissue reveal a cacophony of color when struck by a bear looking for bugs or bark to eat.
A tree hollow in a Sycamore Tree captures morning light above the Miami River Valley in Southwest Ohio. Such locations are a favorite spot of native Owl populations.
The Sequoia Obscura series documents the colorful inner and hidden lives of Coastal Redwood Trees. Each color here, represents moments in the trees life. Indigo and blues are fire scars and smoke stains. The greens are mosses. The white, lichen and molds. Yellows, the slow decay of fungus that worked for centuries to take hold as Redwood produce chemicals that resist fungus.
A sheaf of Birch Bark has separated from body of the tree as the inner wood rapidly decays and the bark dries out and is weathered while trying to maintaining the tension of shapes it held when alive.
Located high above the Pacific Ocean, Mt Palomar is home to one of the most southerly groves of Madrone in the US. A conifer, the Madrone sheds its skin in bright red sheafs year over year revealing yellow, pale and white skin like that shown here. A vigorous tree, Madrone drop and seal branch scars like this at a rapid rate.
A hand sized chunk of Ponderosa Pine bark reveals the layers of the trees life in the volcanic scablands of Washington. Ponderosa Pine bark is uniquely adapted to resist fire, afford the heatwood protection from animals and help fight off disease. Pieces like this are common in groves near the end of the season when he trees store up water.
A down spruce tree in the Grove of the Patriarchs at the foot of Mt Raineir reveals nuanced layers of branch growth and the complex weathering of the wood where upwards of 90 feet of rain and snow fall each year.
Peeling bark on a Yellow Birch in Washington Park Arboretum in spring reveals damage and signals of new growth. The trees, which are known linear lenticels, breathe through the lines that form just beneath the skin and can be harvested for medicine or even clothing.
The path of a hungry pecking Sapsucker bird is left in the face of a cedar tree in the Olympic Rainforest. A never ending battle, the birds seek food while the trees bulk up their bodies to prevent feeding plots to become host to infection.
A sag near the trunk of branch of the Pando trees shows times of growth and rapid divergence for the 106 acre giant. Sag formations are formed when branches grow, or, in this case, when the tree grows rapidly then falls in to repose.
A nurse tree, which is a tree that seeds and takes root in the remains of another. Pictured here, in the Carbon River Rainforest, a downed tree (moving right out of the frame) has given a fertile bed for new life to set up. On human time scales, it appears nothing is happening, but each twist and bend of the fallen parent and the new tree, reveal both tactical and strategic patterns of growth that match the tree the nurse tree falls, sinks, decays and opens up new paths for the seedling to set roots and grow.
A finger of wood remains in the rotted out core of a Spruce burl on the Olympic Coasts. The burls, which can reach five feet in circumference are prolific in theis section of the Olympic Coast. Their purpose is debated, arguably, they deflect the 100 MPH winds and salty air.