CraigBILL

This Japanese Maple tree is a famous and elusive photo subject. Found in the heart of Portland, Oregon, this tree looks really big in most pictures. But it is tiny. Its proportions in a picture fool you into thinking its a towering tree. In reality, its maybe 8 to 10 feet high. But what it lacks in height it makes up for in age. Some of the locals say this little tree is up to 80 years or older!

I decided to visit this famous little tree in the fall in hopes of capturing its red event, but when I finally found it, it was a yellowish color. At first I thought I had the wrong tree! After visiting with the locals, they explained to me that the Japanese Maples in this area only turn yellowish during low rain years. The lower the rain, the more yellow the color before it turns red, and then the red is not as fiery. And the yellow color is very fleeting - only a couple weeks max usually.

"An unusual color and event? Time to set up my camera!" The day was overcast, so the yellow was mostly dull. I set up my equipment and waited to shoot images when the sun was at its brightest during thinning cloud cover. I was informed that rain was on its way, so I only had an hour or so. When the diffused bright sun filtered through the yellow leaves along with a warm camera filter, The Golden Age was recorded. And then it poured! To this day, I have only seen this tree yellow only in a couple photographs.