Mark Hirsch photographs "That Tree"

A carpeted green waterway and fleeting cloud cover frames That Tree on April 8, 2012.

In early 2012 photographer Mark Hirsch, of Platteville, Wis., was still recovering from a near-fatal accident when he took a picture of an ancient Bur Oak tree in a nearby cornfield. Hirsch used a new iPhone rather than his standard camera equipment.

Inspired, Hirsch began a year-long project to capture a picture a day of the oak, finding solace, and heretofore hidden beauty, in his towering, monumental subject.

The results not only became a viral sensation; as he told CBS' "Sunday Morning," the project gave him "healing and inspiration that I needed more than I had realized."

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

Hirsch had tried out his new iPhone on a 160-year-old Bur Oak sitting in a cornfield near his home. "I had driven past that tree every day for 19 years, but I had never really looked at it," he said. "That would change!"

Indeed, during the course of his year-long project, Hirsch captured the tree at all times of day, in every season and every form of weather imaginable. "I was there, waiting and watching, taking note of the simple beauty I had missed for so long," he said.

March

Day 1, March 24, 2012.

April

Day 18, April 10, 2012.

Sunrise shadows and repeated patterns on That Tree.

May

Day 44, May 6, 2012.

June

Day 84, June 15, 2012.

July

Day 101, July 2, 2012.

Using the iPhone app SlowShutter, Mark Hirsch captured a time-exposure image of the flight paths of fireflies as they dart in and around That Tree at dusk.

August

Day 153, August 23, 2012.

September

Day 165, September 4, 2012.

October

Day 213, October 22, 2012.

November

Day 228, November 6, 2012.

Hirsch: "That Tree is reflected upside-down in the heavy snowflakes melting on the window of my truck."

December

Day 260, December 8, 2012.

January

Day 286, January 3, 2013.

February

Day 323, February 9, 2013.

Cast in the blue light of dawn, fresh snow clings to the trunk of That Tree.

March

Day 351, March 9.

Hirsch: "I spent the day at a forestry conference so it was early evening before I headed out in the cold rainy weather seeking today's photo. Extremely difficult shooting conditions."

As the year-long project drew to a close, those following the progress via Facebook began sending Hirsch "forlorn messages," saying how much they would miss That Tree. Hirsch invited those interested to join together in a group photo with That Tree on Day 365.

Three hundred people showed up in the Wisconsin cornfield, along with 12 dogs.

After Hirsch climbed 60 feet up the tree to shoot the group from above, fellow photographer Steven Schleuning captured tree and fans together (left) from a nearby cherry picker.

To mark the one-year anniversary, Hirsch posted a request on Facebook for ornaments for That Tree. Among the many sent in were (counter-clockwise, from top left): A sketch of the tree by Riley Gilmore III, of Orangeville, Calif.; a box containing stories, poems and illustrations from students in a writing seminar taught by Patty Campbell Blaszak at St. Joseph High Catholic School in Bryan, Texas; a Boston Red Sox cap sent from Ryan Wetley, an Iraq War veteran who wrote, of one of his most prized possessions, "It's been to 6 continents with me [including] in combat in Baghdad. I would be honored to have it as part of the tree photo!"; and a postcard from Sue Kroll Barry of Anchorage, Alaska (Hirsch's girlfriend in 8th grade), who sent regrets she could not attend the group picture.

At his hotel room in New York Mark Hirsch reviews proofs from a printed collection of images of "That Tree," to be published in August 2013.

A portrait of Mark Hirsch., taken during a morning photo shoot of That Tree.

"That Tree," he told "Sunday Morning," "taught me to slow down, take time to look around, and appreciate the almost (but not quite) hidden beauty that abounds in our world - sometimes even in your own backyard."

For more info:
thattree.net
Photos of That Tree (Facebook)
markhirschphoto.com
"That Tree" by Mark Hirsch (available August 2013)

Watch: Mark Hirsch photographs "That Tree" ("Sunday Morning")

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan