Redwoods in Sun. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A beam of filtered sunlight illuminates redwood trees deep in Prairie Creek Redwood State Park

I had a portion of one day to spend at Prairie Creek Redwood State Park. I could easily have spent more time there, but I wanted to make first visits to several of the redwood parks, so I saved this one for my last day in the area. Arriving at the park my first subject wasn’t redwoods — instead it was a remarkable grove of alder trees. I finished there and moved on into the center of the park, looking for a particular trail that I thought might have some rhododendron blooms. (It turned out that I was probably a few days early for that.)

I arrived at the trailhead, shouldered my camera pack, and started walking… slowly. While I can hike efficiently and cover distance, when I photograph my speed slows profoundly, and what I call hiking might more accurately be described as ambling. As I wandered up this trail, following it up into a redwood-filled valley, the light constantly changed. High fog was breaking up, and one minute it would be bright (too bright for photograph) and then next minute the clouds muted the light. I stopped at this spot where I could look across the valley and focus on a spot many feet up the trunks of the trees. I waited for the clouds to block the sun and mute the light before making a few photographs.

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G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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