“Twins” – sun breaking through fog in a redwood forest, northern California. 25mm, 1/8th of a second at f/16, ISO 200. See the main text for a description of how I made this image.
Many people seem to have a deep, instinctive connection with redwood forests. I’m certainly one of them. Every year Claudia and I journey to the northern California coast prior to our redwoods workshop, and one of our first stops is at a favorite redwood grove. I’ll get out of the car, step onto the trail, and enter the forest. I’ll see the huge trees soaring into the sky. My nose will catch the familiar, earthy smell of the redwoods. I’ll hear the buzzing call of a varied thrush – the soundtrack of the redwood forest. I’m home.
We photographers often talk about gear, technique, light, composition, and image processing. And all those things are important. But I don’t think you can make truly meaningful photographs unless you feel a connection with your subject. More than once I’ve looked at a person’s portfolio of landscape photographs, found them so-so, then looked at images of their children – and thought they were fantastic. It was clear that while they liked nature and landscapes, they were truly passionate about their children (as they should be!).
It’s so important to figure out what you love, what you’re passionate about, what you’re knowledgeable about, what really lights your flame as a photographer and artist. If you truly care about what you’re photographing, you’ll find a way to make images that communicate that passion to yourself and others.
If you love nature, some places will probably speak to you more than others. I can find things to love about any natural habitat, but I seem to connect with some places on a deeper level. Yosemite is obviously one of those, but the redwoods are also at the top of my list. When I’m in the redwoods I never want to leave.
We landscape photographers often try to portray our subjects at their most photogenic moments. In Yosemite that’s usually when a storm is clearing. The redwoods are at their most spectacular when the rhododendrons are blooming or sunbeams are fanning out through the fog. The fog beams are truly breathtaking. And I’m drawn to those scenes as much as anyone – as you can tell from my last post.
But during our recent visit to the redwoods it occurred to me that those exceptional moments don’t portray the real character of the redwood forest. The rhododendrons bloom for only a few weeks of the year, and their pink blossoms are an anomaly amid the forest’s overall palette of greens and browns. The sunbeams are dazzlingly bright, but most of the time the forests are rather dark, even gloomy.
In thinking about this, I decided to try making images of the redwoods that captured their true character – magnificently dark, brooding, and primeval.
Doing that, or trying to do that, still required the right conditions – especially fog. Fog is common in these forests, especially in summer, so it’s not exceptional or unusual. But fog helps immensely when photographing redwoods because it declutters the background, and, more importantly, conveys that mystical, primeval mood I’m looking for.
The images I was happiest with also needed something more uncommon – sun breaking through the fog. Instead of looking toward the sun and the radiating sunbeams, I turned and looked at the sunlight striking the trees and forest floor through the fog. This lighting seemed to convey the mystery and mood I was looking for.
In my last post I said that I like images that are rich and complex, without being too busy or visually confusing. Before capturing the image at the top of this post I noticed the sun hitting the twin trunks just left of center, and knew those trunks could provide a key focal point – something for the viewer’s eyes to latch onto amid the sea of branches, leaves, ferns, and trunks. And I loved the chiaroscuro effect – the modulation of light and dark across the frame.
The rest of the composition, including the two smaller trees in the middle (young redwoods, I think), seemed to fall into place naturally, except I wasn’t sure what to do with the trunk at the left edge. Usually I would avoid cutting a trunk in half like that, but I figured that cut-in-half trunk would be balanced by the dark areas on the right edge.
The resulting photograph is certainly complicated, but the focal point provided by those twin trunks helps clarify the image, as does the repeating pattern created by all the vertical lines. Most importantly, to me, I think it conveys the dark, primeval mood of my spiritual forest home.
— Michael Frye
Trail through a redwood forest in the fog, northern California. Again, sunlight breaking through fog helped give this scene the mood I was looking for. 19mm, 1/10 of a second at f/11, ISO 100.
Ferns and redwoods in the fog, northern California. To me, the ferns convey the feeling of this forest as much as the redwoods, so I tried to make the ferns a prominent part of this composition. I lowered the camera to make the ferns look tall, and using my widest lens (16mm), carefully positioned the camera so that the tall fern left of center was positioned between trunks, as was the tip of the fern near the right side. The closest fern was perhaps eight inches from the lens, so I had to use focus stacking to make everything sharp, which meant waiting a long time for the wind to be perfectly calm. 16mm, 1/2 a second at f/16, ISO 100; eight images focus stacked and blended with Helicon Focus.
Claudia’s vertical panorama of me at home in the redwoods
Related Posts: Simple and Complex; Capturing a Mood
Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.
Gorgeous!
Thanks Saundra!
Michael … you create some of the most beautiful photos that I see … but I have to tell you, that you have outdone yourself with these last 2 posts (of redwoods). They are simply amazing. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks very much Frank!
I’ve been to the redwoods once, thought it was one of the coolest places I’ve been to. You are lucky you live out there where it’s relatively easy driving distance (so I assume). Agree with all you said about connecting with certain places more than others. I think that first photo does a great job of capturing the feeling of the forest.
I’m glad you also like the redwoods Patrick. It’s about a nine-hour drive for me, so not exactly a short trip, but not unreasonable. Glad you like that photo!
9 hours is a long haul, I thought maybe 4 hours when I said that. All of a sudden I feel closer to everything in CO, most stuff within 3 hours, except for the SW corner (San Juans), even that’s closer than you are to the redwoods.
Well I’m close to a lot of great photo locations, but the redwoods are a bit far. Lots to photograph in Colorado, for sure.
Redwoods, fog and flowers. Love the combination and go there as often as possible which isn’t often enough. Live in Southern CA.
Well Southern California is a long way, but I’m glad you get up there anyway!
Always so nice compositions , lights and framing ! A real pleasure for our eyes
Thank you Lucie!
Michael,
Definitely one to be included in your “Pictures of the Year” selection. Until I moved, the redwoods were my cathedral for years. You’ve captured them well. Thanks for sharing the beauty of mother earth…
Thanks very much Stan!
Love your work Michael.
Thank you Richard!
Thanks, Michael, for your lovely images of these beautiful and almost mystical trees. I really appreciate hearing your thoughts about portraying the redwoods in their more primeval and brooding character. I agree with you that this seems to be the true nature of the redwood forest, but as you mentioned, some kind of focal point is also needed. You created some magical images using bits of sun and the ferns as focal points. This July, during my annual trip to the U.S., I’m going to drive up to the redwood forests and try to get some images. I hope the fog will accommodate me!
Thanks very much Bob, and good luck on your visit to the redwoods. July is peak fog season, but you never know.
Enjoy not only your beautiful photos but also your words about your feeling and your important points…
Thanks very much William!
The pictures are of course beautiful, but your commentary is what most captured my attention. I was up there this June and was on the hunt for some “iconic” rhododendrons and redwoods pictures; which I got and prize. However, upon reviewing my pictures the ones that bring the most comfort and peace are the simple ones of the forest primeval. Thanks for this post, it really brought back memories of that special time in the forest
Thanks Steve. Simplicity definitely works!
Amazing 🙂
Thanks!
My dream to see these but you almost bring my dream to life with these amazing pictures! Pure Heaven
Thanks so much Lizz!