Tag Archives: state

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Redwood Forest Trail

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A quiet trail though old-growth redwood groves.
A quiet trail though old-growth redwood groves.

Redwood Forest Trail. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A quiet trail though old-growth redwood groves.

One of my loose goals on this trip to the Redwood National and State Parks was to scout a bit. This was such a new area to me that I did not have illusions about finding the very best subjects right away, and I regard a first visit like this one as being the start of a longer photographic relationship with the place. In other words, I wanted to photographer then and there, but I also wanted to start to know the place, with an eye to future return visits.

With that in mind I visited four of the parks that comprise the larger state and national park collective. Time will tell if my initial impressions are correct, but each park seems to have a different and somewhat individual character. My last stop in the area, on the morning when I began my drive to a locations further south, was the Prairie Creek State Park. The great old-growth redwood trees are impressive wherever you find them, but it seemed to me that here they were even more so. After photographing some alder trees along a roadway, I moved on and selected a trail to hike, making the choice based more on hunch than anything else. I wandered slowly up a canyon filled with the giant trees as broken clouds moved changing light across the scene.

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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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Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Quiet Forest

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Quiet Forest
A quiet, Northern California old-growth redwood forest

Quiet Forest. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A quiet, Northern California old-growth redwood forest

I had heard rumors of rhododendrons along a trail at this location, so I went there late one afternoon when I figured that the light might be a bit muted by incoming fog and high clouds. I parked and started the short walk along a shallow ridge through the forest and then descended a bit into a small canyon. There were rhododendron blossoms, though I was apparently just a bit too early for their peak.

I and other photographers often look for special light when photographing the redwood forest. There are many types, for example the glowing light that is sometimes found in thinning fog, or the warm light early and late in the day when filtered sunlight makes its way into the groves. In some ways, the light in this photograph is probably a bit more typical. There was a gentle glow coming from cloudy skies to the west, and most of it was blocked by the thick canopy of trees. Because it was neither the morning nor evening golden hour, the light is softer and more subtle… and perhaps more reflective of the quiet and stillness of these places.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Redwood and Rhododendron

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Redwood and Rhododendron
A curving rhodendron with a few spring blooms in dense North Coast redwood forest

Redwood and Rhododendron. © Copyright 2018 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A curving rhododendron with a few spring blooms in dense North Coast redwood forest

I mentioned earlier that this was probably my first “serious” trip to photograph the redwood forests in the Redwood National and State Parks are of far-northern California. When I travel to a new location like this I tend to do only enough research to point me in the right direction. For example, I checked maps and I figured out that there are four main parks, and I looked up a hike or two. But I did not, and I generally do not, do extensive research and planning. For me a big part of the adventure is the discovery part, where I poke around, use my instincts, make mistakes, and take interesting turns… and see what develops. There is a method to my madness — I think this helps me more quickly develop a person orientation to the place.

So on this morning I headed to the closest park, Jedediah Smith State Park. I found what looked like it might be a road through the park. It was. Sort of. It turned into gravel and then came to a locked gate just past the park entrance. So I backed up, retreated, and tried going around the park to the other side. Eventually I found a nice hike of a few miles to a big grove of old-growth trees, but first I came across this beautiful little spot where there were a few rhododendrons just beginning to bloom.

See top of this page for Articles, Sales and Licensing, my Sierra Nevada Fall Color book, Contact Information and more.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Coastal Redwoods, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Redwood National & State Parks

Redwood Forest, Morning

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“Redwood Forest, Morning” — Soft morning light filters down to floor of a lush spring redwood forest

For many years I have, in a sense, neglected the far northwestern corner of California where the Redwood National and State Parks are located. While I have photographed coast redwoods closer to the San Francisco Bay area, my experience in this true heart of the great redwood country has been quite limited — I’ve driven through a few times, but I have done very little photography there. This past week I had my first real opportunity to begin the process of rectifying this omission, and during this visit I managed to photograph in four of the main park components of the area. I’ll have additional photographs beyond this one, and I’ll expand on my thoughts about the area as I share them here.

This late May and early June period seems like it just might be prime time for this area, at least from a photographic perspective. Things are still very wet in this temperate rain forest, and new spring vegetation is everywhere along with plenty of wildflowers. This lushness produces scenes that are both attractive and a challenge to photography. As differentiated from, say, the Sierra Nevada, here there are few singular iconic sights. Instead there is the rich complexity of the redwood forest. (Also, of course, there is the nearby coastline.) The redwoods themselves lend an almost obsessive verticality to these scenes, but those large forms contrast with the dense details of other plant life. This was one of the first redwood forests within which I photographed on this visit, and I enjoyed the challenge of finding compositional form within this complexity.

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” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.

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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.