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The
Story of Our Icon Symbol
The Little Tree of Bryce Canyon
With Jim
Moerschel
On
my first visit to Bryce Canyon National
Park a few years ago, I arrived
in
the late afternoon, as the sun was beaming its spellbinding light onto
an
equally
magical landscape. Standing
high up on the rim, my eyes scanned the
amphitheater
below.
Thousands of sandstone spires called "hoo doos"
create a "moonscape" so
bizarre,
that most people viewing it for the first time are speechless.
The golden, setting sun paints the scene. Its low angled light bathes some of the spires a
shimmering gold while others shrink into darkness.
Long shadows begin to form
and
finally they engulf the entire canyon and the show is over for another
day. Daybreak will begin the show all over again.
I made several images of the "hoo doo" landscape that
afternoon and as I
was
packing up my camera gear, I noticed a small tree only a few feet away.
It
was such an odd gnarly, twisted tree, with its roots exposed to the
elements
and
appearing like it would topple over any minute.
The more I studied the tree, the more I admired it.
Now I was intrigued
enough
that I wanted to photograph it, but the light wasn't right for a mean-
ingful
image. Over the years I've
trained myself to look for unusual subjects
in
nature and here was a real odd one.
It was up to me to study this
ungainly
subject and create an artistic image.
Now I studied the little tree from all angles.
It was less than six feet tall,
and
I moved about it, high and low, my eye to the viewfinder
seeking the proper composition. When I got real low the image began to form in my
mind's
eye. I was at ground level,
peering through those flimsy roots and my lens was pointed east. The rising sun would be facing me and I began to
envision
the blazing ball glowing between those twisted roots.
It might make
a wonderful picture.
The next morning I was up well before daybreak and drove in the
dark to
the
rim. A short walk brought me
to the base of the tree in plenty of time to
set
up and wait for the rising sun. Luckily,
the sky was clear at the horizon
with
just a few faint clouds floating up high.
I set up my tripod and placed a super clamp down low on one of
the legs.
My
camera was placed as low to the ground as possible so that the entire
tree
would
be silhouetted against the sky. Then
I chose my angle to the tree to
show
off its odd shape to best advantage, focused and waited for first light.
A few other people began to show up as the first glimmer of light
appeared
in
the eastern sky. None of
them even noticed me lying there watching the scene
unfold
in my viewfinder. None of
them even noticed the tree either.
Then the sky began to light up and the clouds were suddenly
illuminated. No
beaming
sun yet, but the scene was beautiful.
"Wow, I've got to get this."
I
recomposed the scene to horizontal format to create a scenic landscape
and
began
to expose film. One shot
after another. The light
began to change. Fast.
The
entire scene is changing quickly and I begin to fire away.
Frame after frame.
I
can really feel the excitement and my adrenaline is really pumping.
I knew right then that this image was special. Then the beaming sun was glowing right through those wiry, twisted roots and I rotated the
camera
to the vertical format and captured the very scene I had envisioned the day before.
When I was finished and finally stood up , I saw how many people
had
arrived at the rim. I guess
I was the only one, who didn't get to see the first
light
strike the "hoo doos" far below.
But that could wait till tomorrow.
I had
secured
the most important image from this trip to Bryce Canyon.
This photo of the Little Tree clearly tells the story of Bryce
Canyon. Erosion!
This
entire magical landscape is in constant change.
Rain, wind, ice and snow
keep
shifting the sand and clay each and every day.
The little tree sits in a very
precarious
spot, high up on the rim. With
each passing day, its roots become
a
bit more exposed as the relentless forces of nature erode the canyon
rim.
This Little Tree is a symbol of tenacity as it clings to life on
wiry roots. It
is
also a symbol of vulnerability due to its exposed location.
It is in a race
against
time. One wonders if the
tree can sink its roots deeper into the earth
faster
than the forces can erode the top levels of earth?
Whatever happens,
it
will be the forces of nature that will decide its fate.
And on that meaninful
day
of my discovery, this tenacious Little Tree became the Icon symbol of
this
publication,
PHOTOGRAPHIC VISION - THE FINE ART OF SEEING.
I wish you good luck in your image making and may all your
visions be
photogenic.
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