The oldest trees in the world

This gnarly tree "reaching for the stars" is an ancient bristlecone pine growing in the White Mountains of Eastern California at elevation of over 10,000ft (3200m).

Reaching for the stars.jpg

These trees are the oldest living non-clonal organisms in the world and some of them have been dated to be nearly 5,000 years old. That means they have been alive when the pyramids were being built in Egypt! Conditions in these remote mountains are very harsh, with cold temperatures, a short growing season, high winds, and barren soil. And yet bristlecone pines thrive in these conditions and attain their great age not in spite of their harsh environment, but because of it - the pines grow very slowly which makes their wood very dense and resistant to insects, disease, and erosion.

Ancient.jpg

Here's another tree in a nearby grove. If you're not sure what's happening in this photo - this is a result of letting my camera take photos continuously for 3 hours, capturing the apparent movement of the stars due to Earth's rotation. When facing north the stars appear to be circling around the North Star.

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These trees look like works of art, their twisting trunks and limbs are beautiful. I can barely comprehend the length of time they've been alive. A mind-blowing set of images.

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That sky in the first photo is killer! Awesome work. I'll be sure to follow your stuff!

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Great shots! Such interesting trees. How do they look in a growing season? How can you tell they are still living?

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They look the same year round since they are coniferous. The living ones will have some parts that are green/growing, the parts in the photo are dead.

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I hope you liked what you can achieve with Hive, so... Do it again please - great photos and story

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I see you have very cool photos here up on your pages 🤗👌👌 I be soon more back to see what you more post.

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That second image is just amazing, brilliant photography, and fascinating facts about these ancient trees!

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Amazing astrophotographs! You inspire me to reach that kind of expertise level in capturing the night sky ❤️

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The photos are awesome, but knowing how old that tree is... and it's still standing. Only if trees could speak we'd know everything that has happened.

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I'm curious, are the photos taken for three hours combined into one photo?
And wouldn't it damage the camera by shooting continuously like that? Sorry I'm asking because I've never tried it before.

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Yes! Each exposure is 5 mins long and taking them continuously for 3 hours. And no, cameras don't have any problem with that

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The image looks like the wind spinning from the sky. Thanks for sharing, nice to try with different object.

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These are incredible Marcin. Old trees fascinate me and I'd love to visit them someday.

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One of my favorite locations I've been to!

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