Tag Archives: muir

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Creek

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Redwood Creek
Redwood Creek

Redwood Creek. Muir Woods National Monument, California. August 1, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Redwood creek flows though lush forest at Muir Woods National Monument, California

This was more or less the first photograph I made on this August early morning visit to Muir Woods National Monument, and its main redwood groves. I had arrived very early – well before the park opened and other visitors arrived – and I was almost all alone as the first morning light begin to filter down through trees into this valley.

The photograph was made at a rather prosaic location, the first footbridge on the main “nature trail” though the popular monument. However, being here so early, I had the rare opportunity to set my tripod up on the bridge without having to worry about inconveniencing other visitors (there weren’t any!) or waiting for the bridge to stop vibrating as hordes of people walked across. And, yes, that is an issue here, since when I shoot at low ISOs and small apertures I often end up with exposure times measured in seconds when shooting in the deep shade of the redwood forest. One of the most challenging things when shooting in this lush environment, at least for me, is to try to tease a coherence composition out of scenes that often include a ton of detail. This is certainly one of those scenes, but I think that the curving trees, the downward arc of branches on the left, the foreground stream, and perhaps a sense of depth creating by further trees in brighter light might make this work.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Maple and Sorrel, Redwood Grove

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Maple and Sorrel, Redwood Grove
Maple and Sorrel, Redwood Grove

Maple and Sorrel, Redwood Grove. Muir Woods National Monument, California. August 1, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An old maple tree leans above a bed of redwood sorrel in a redwood grove at Muir Woods National Monument

Of the group of photographs I made on this early August morning at Muir Woods National Monument, this may be the darkest scene of all. Almost no direct sunlight had yet penetrated down into this section of the forest, with the exception of a few odd beams striking here and there among the higher branches, and one coming across the forest floor from the right side of the frame.

Redwood trees here are generally quite straight and bulky. With the exception of those that have fallen or are leaning over, they forma a continuous pattern of vertical lines. Breaking up this verticality are the curving shapes of trees like the laurel, and in this scene a thick, old maple tilts wildly to the right at a 45-degree angle, and is the form that initially attracted me to this spot. The forest floor here is almost covered with redwood sorrel, a clover-like plant that puts out small blossoms earlier in the year. The light, of course, is soft and the whole scene is in deep shade.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Redwood Forest, Morning

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Redwood Forest, Morning
Redwood Forest, Morning

Redwood Forest, Morning. Muir Woods National Monument, California. August 1, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Morning light in the redwood forest at Muir Woods National Monument

Walking along one of the main trails at Muir Woods, most of the forest was in deep shade. However, up the hillside to my right the morning sun had cleared a nearby ridge and was beginning to cast rays of light into the forest and, especially, to illuminate some of the deciduous trees a bit further up the hill. I had been looking closely at the trunks of big trees along the trail, trying to find compositions in this low light, but the bright light beyond distracted me.

Looking through this group of large, bulky, and mostly straight redwood trunks, I was struck by the difference between their appearance the slender and curving shapes of these further trees – which I think were probably laurels. I also like the slightly disjunct appearance of some of the closer trees, including the one curving from center to the left and the thin tree near the left that is more brightly lit by sun. For the photographers out there, this photograph presented a major exposure problem. As you can imagine, the range between the foreground shadows of the redwood trees and the sunlit trees in the distance was huge. Believe it or not, this photograph was made from a single exposure of the scene.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California

Morning Light, Redwoods

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Morning Light, Redwoods
Morning Light, Redwoods

Morning Light, Redwoods. Muir Woods National Monument, California. August 1, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Light beams shine between redwood trees, Muir Woods National Monument

During essentially the entire month of July, in what is typically my prime time for being in the Sierra and other wild places doing landscape photography, we were instead traveling in the UK, Germany, and Austria. It was a great trip – and I’d do it again in a heartbeat! – but I’ve missed my natural world here in California, and it was about time to return to it. So I marked the first day of August by getting up well before the crack of dawn and heading north across the Golden Gate to spend a morning in the cool and quiet of redwood groves. (To those who have been to Muir Woods when it is, as is too often the case, overrun by tourists from San Francisco, I’ll just say that if you go very and on the right day, you can briefly have the place almost to yourself.)

I was the first or perhaps second person to arrive at Muir Woods, well before the gates were open and the kiosks manned, so I loaded up the camera gear and ambled slowly into the park, taking in the cool air, the quiet, and the soft early morning light. I had to particular photographs in mind, so I just took the time to go slowly and look around. In the end, I came back with perhaps four that I like – which is a pretty good haul! – and the others might be just a bit less iconic than this one. I made this photograph at just about the time I had decided that my work for the morning was done – the sun was getting high in the sky and creating the hard-to-photograph “pizza light” and more visitors were starting to show up. As I turned around to start back I saw this small grove above on the hillside, with some light beams passing through the branches, so I switched lenses and made this photograph.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.