Goodbye to the Redwoods

This is my fifth and final day in the Redwoods in some ways I’m sorry to leave. Everyday I went into the woods I came out with a lot of good images. Every time I walked the trails I continuously was amazed at the utter beauty of this area. I kept a running joke with myself about turning a corner and coming face to face with a animal long extinct or some human in bearskin carrying a club; what I did find on my last day borders on the strange, at least to me. I found a tree that was growing across the trail I was on with roots at both ends and shoots that were growing upwards. I also found a tree that had taken root on top of an older fallen tree.

I’m sorry to leave but I figure I’ll be back. I would also like to encourage those who have not done so to visit this beautiful place, you won’t be sorry.

I head home in the morning stopping twice but should be home on Monday; Tuesday is when the real work begins loading all the images onto the studio computer then shifting and sorting through to find the ones I want to print. We’ve decided to add a new gallery to our website that will contain recent or current work; the work will stay in this gallery for a couple months then either be moved to the appropriate gallery or removed all together so please visit the website.

I’d like to thank Michael Reichmann owner of The Luminous Landscape whose visit to the Redwoods and subsequent video (Volume 4 Issue 16) prompted this trip.

Thanks for taking the time to visit and view the images.


Don

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Surf and Turf

I am awed at the lushness of the forest with the colors and dense trees. The trees are so thick in places that even while it’s a sunny day you find yourself in deep dark shadows where the temperature borders between chilly and down right cold. I’ve found that a good sturdy tripod is a necessity as most of my exposures are either ½ second to 1 full second. Any time I shot faster than ½ second I thought I was a speed demon!

I want to put a plug here for a great place to eat called “She-She’s Café” on Highway 199 in Gasquet. This place has been here “forever” and the current owner (who’s nickname is She-She) has owned and operated the place for the past 24 years. If you get hungry like I did today and want a good old fashion messy hamburger then this is the place. I had spent the morning in the woods and had built up an appetite by the time I drove past and saw the open sign. I decided to stop and I’m glad I did great food! Of course I went right back into the woods to work my lunch off.

The final image is sunset from today at Harris Beach State Park; decided to return there to see the sunset.

Hope you’ve enjoy the images.

don

A day at the beach

Woke up to rain and cold, perfect conditions to do some beach shots. I head out looking for the perfect beach to set up at needing only a few conditions, rocks, surf, and water. Sunrise was around 730 this morning and I was on the road by 630 while it was still pitch black outside. I had been going up and down the coast to the south so I figured to head north maybe go into Oregon which is only 20 miles away. I got into the small city of Brookings OR just as the sky was lighting up and saw the surf and rocks so made a fast left turn into “Harris Beach State Park”. I parked at the southern end overlooking the part of the beach that caught my attention so I decided to stay there.

As many of you know by now I’ve switch my primary photography kit to a Cambo RS1000 which is a technical camera; while it’s a great setup for landscape and such I felt I had to rely on my Phase One AFD 645 III camera body with a choice of two really great lens, 28mm and 75-150 both of which were made specifically for digital medium format. So lugging my tripod, camera and an extra lens (not counting extra batteries) I started off to do battle with the wind, surf, and rocks. But first I had to walk down a trail which at best estimate was close to ¼ mile (going down wasn’t the problem, that ¼ mile trail turned into a 1 mile trail going back up!).

I got to the beach just as the sun was coming up and had about an hour of perfect lighting conditions.

This may seem backwards however the final image was sunset last night taken from the balcony of my room in Crescent City.

I hope you enjoy the images. I’m going back to the Redwoods tomorrow.

Thanks for visiting..

don