As I searched through my images for this photo essay, I realized I have been photographing  trees from the time I fell in love with photography. When I look at the photographs, I am struck by the sense of mystery and awe trees inspire, the way trees draw our eyes and our minds away from ourselves, the quiet we breathe in, in their presence.  I hope these images bring a taste of the wonder the trees awakened in me.

This image originally inspired humor for me, the singular, gangly tree framed by similar branches, but over time the image of this solitary tree has become nuanced with a sense of loneliness, set at a distance from kindred limbs, and set apart from the surrounding trees by its stature.

A blue cast shrouds this barren knob of wood,  and yet two small green leaves give hope to the potential for growth and change in the imminent future.

In the powerful grasp of these roots, the ancient rocky foundation slowly crumbles.

A thicket of manzanita offers refuge in its underbrush.

This image from the Presidio in the late '90s calls up the mystery and beauty of the path that lies before us.

Sometimes we can only see the whole in reflection…

Questions emerge among the trees:  where will the path lead; where will the turns take us?

These redwood  trunks evoke the thundering limbs of elephants.

 Light streams around the trunk of this towering redwood, creating a moment of quiet wonder amidst the copse of surrounding trees.

In the moisture-laden air  of the Presidio, light shimmers between the trees.