Single Tree Series | Maroon Bells Wilderness Area, CO

There are few things in nature I find more artistically mesmerizing than a single, lone tree, and wherever my travels take me I am always on the lookout for that next epic composition. They each have such varying personalities, and few things in nature evoke such strong emotions in us as humans as these solitary trees defining their surroundings. Singular is part of my One Tree Series™, a collection of my work dedicated to paying tribute to these natural monuments of time and tenacity.

The title Singular references a single and yet exceptional moment – all the elements of this image are common, and yet they’ve come together in a most uncommon way. Captured in the Maroon Bells Wilderness area of Colorado, this spot always draws me back when I return to the Rockies.

What is it about this commonplace grove of trees that is so continuously intriguing? Perhaps it’s the way the single evergreen tree stands tenaciously among the forest of aspen. Or how the peak of fall colors has been met by an unusually early snow and an even more unusual fog. Or maybe it’s something we can’t quite define. Whatever that element may be, what I found compelling about this particular moment was the mix of the two seasons. The snow suggests the rapid approach of winter, but autumn still holds its ground, melting the snow down the side of the trees and creating a fantastical mist.