Ashen Flame

Update: Final Version (maybe) -- 9-26-08

Update: New version -- 9-24-08

I found some cool framing software so here are a couple tries for this image:

This is the first scanned image from my very productive Mt. Whitney trip. Jenn's parents made my day when they said they wanted this picture for their entryway and said they would pay for the scan and everything! The image is of a dead Bristlecone Pine tree in the White Mountains of California. These trees live up to five thousand years and the oldest known tree on the planet is in a grove just a few miles from this location. These trees are really inspirational. If grown at lower elevations (this was around 11-12,000 feet) they don't live nearly as long. But up high, the winds, lower nutrient soil, and lower air pressure slow down their metabolisms, which makes them live so long. Also, the wood from these high trees rots very slowly so their legacy will continue for thousands of more years. Adversity makes them strong! This tree was probably 3000+ years old when Jesus walked the earth.
On another note, the mountains in the distance are the Sierra Nevadas rising to around 14,000 feet and the valley between (about 70 miles north west of Death Valley) amazingly falls to 2000 feet. The mountains were magenta because of a very nice effect caused by the heavy smoke that was in the air from the wildfires. Anyway, I think I'll be working on this edit for a while to try and get it just right. Hope you like it.