49.8

I'd love to say that I searched far and wide in the Bristlecone Forest to find the perfect tree, but..... Steve Turner and I arrived on location substantially later than we had planned, and with what turned out to be an EPIC sunset setting up, I jumped out of Jeeves even before he was parked and started sprinting for the old pines. That lasted exactly 17 seconds before I hit what marathon runners describe as "the wall". At 12,000', I wasn't running ANYWHERE. I was perplexed that the altitude was affecting me, after all, I spend half my life at 39,000' as an airline pilot. I mean, the cabin altitude is only around 8,000 feet, but still!! I was reasonably sure I would acclimate just fine. What I neglected to factor in is that I don't usually sprint around in the jet. Except when I hear my delicious crew meal is ready. (Sarcasm intended). Or there is an extra warm Chocolate Chip Cookie somewhere in the cabin. (Deadly serious). So this is really the first tree I came to up the hill from the truck. For those of you curious about the technicals, this is two exposures blended. One in the waning moments of twilight, and one about an hour later for the stars. This technique is outlined in what I consider to be the Star Bible, written by Floris van Beugel. I always review this tutorial before I head out to shoot the heavens. http://www.naturephotographers.net/articles0509/fv0509-1.html