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

Credit: Courtesy of Mark Hirsch