I realized recently, that sometime and I’m not sure exactly when, I had become especially drawn to photographing dead trees. I started looking through my photo archives and found that even a very long time ago I was photographing these fascinating subjects. On a recent trip to the Oregon Coast I came across a particularly striking tree in a forested dune that stopped me in my tracks. This stunning tree was lit by warm morning light and was drifting in and out of the fog. It was standing by itself draped in moss and was just begging to have it’s picture taken.
I spent the better part of 90 minutes watching the light interact with this relic of the forest and made 26 images of various compositions. Looking at the previews on the LCD of my camera I could see that I very possibly had some quality images with great potential and four days later started the editing process in lightroom and photoshop. Now, if you’re out there shooting jpegs you are missing out because editing a raw file can really change how you view photography. I find that developing an image from a raw file is very similar to waiting for the lab to return your film. There is some anticipation and sometimes some true disappointment and/or elation. This particular tree, as the edit was coming together, really got me to thinking. What the heck is it about dead trees? Why am I interested in them and why do I find them to be such great subjects.
Dead Trees very often simplify your composition for you. Photography in a forest is really an exercise in finding order within the chaos through subtraction and Dead trees are usually missing some limbs, have no leaves, and can be a much cleaner subject. While that is surely helpful to the photographer I don’t think that is really the reason that I think they make great subjects.
I think it’s more than that. Dead Trees are often a different color than the living as you would imagine. They are often light in color as they’ve lost their protective bark and in many cases have silvered. This process creates a subject that interacts with light entirely differently than the other trees around them and certainly can make them really jump out. That is what I saw with the tree in the dunes but again, is that really the reason I’m drawn to photographing them.
As I finished up photographing the dune tree, I tried to determine what other creature, or living thing in this world could die and then maybe 10’s of years later still be standing there. Standing upright in some cases, ready to leave an impression on anyone who might come across it. So, I’ve settled on the idea that Dead Trees are great subjects because years after death they can still have a great impact and can be a seriously impressive element within the forest.