The National Parks Traveler has published Part 3 of my Armchair Photography Guide to Olympic National Park. Part 3 deals with traveling to and photographing the mountains of this amazing park. To read the article, click on the photo above.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under 1DX Mk II, 24-105mm, 5DSR, Armchair Photography Guide, Canon, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, Canon Lens, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State
Yeah, I’ve been posting quite a few tree and forest interior images. It’s what you do when you visit Olympic National Park. This shot was captured during a hike along the Sol Duc Falls trail in the Sol Duc Valley. There are all sorts of lovely, deep, quiet, photo ops and the trees always look very interesting. This tall tree in front appears to be growing right out of or at least, very close to, the tree behind it, if you look closely at the root structure at the bottom of the trees.
The moral of this story is that you should observe the scenes around you and not keep your head down as you head toward your sole purpose of hiking the trail in the first place (in this case, to get to Sol Duc Falls). The more you observe, the better your compositions become.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under 24-105mm, 5DS, Canon, forest, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State
Usually, I don’t travel to any national park with high expectations. I even wrote an article in the National Parks Traveler about the rewards of lowered expectations. I know it’s going to be rainy, overcast, snowing, probably the roads will be slick, and there might even be another f***ing government shutdown while I am there. Nonetheless, I am stoked to be returning to Yellowstone National Park in a few days for 8-1/2 days of fall photography. For a portion of that time, I’ll be staying at the historic Old Faithful Inn, and will definitely get some interior architecture images of that beautiful lodge. I so wanted to do this during my short summer stay (2-1/2 days) during my road trip move from Texas to central Washington, but the inn was full, the crowds were YUGE, and I ultimately needed to get back on the road again to my sister’s home.
I’ll be taking 3 cameras with me and an assortment of lenses: my Canon 5DSR, Canon 1DX Mk II, and Pentax 645z. I’ll take the Canon 16-35mm, 14mm, 24-70mm, 24-105mm, 100-400mm with a 1.4x extender, Pentax 28-45mm, and Pentax 55mm lenses. No need to tell me it’s going to be a heavy backpack I take onto the plane with me. I already know that. I had to pack one of my lenses into my laptop bag, which will also be carried onto the plane. Hey, I don’t know when I will be able to return to Yellowstone, so might as well bring as much as I can carry and that’s allowable on the plane, because I’d rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. Plus, I’ve broken lenses before while traveling (Hawaii comes to mind), so I’m being a little redundant with one of the lenses. I decided on this instead of trying to work around taking my Canon 500mm lens. As it is, I’ll probably forget something, even though I’ve written a list of things to pack.
Soon, soon, I will be back inside America’s first national park. Can’t wait!
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Filed under 1DX Mk II, 24-105mm, 24-70mm f2.8L II, 5DSR, autumn, Canon, Canon 14mm f/2.8L II, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, Canon Lens, HD PENTAX-DA645 28-45mm f/4.5 ED AW SR Lens, National Parks, Pentax 645z, Pentax Lens, Pentax-D FA 645 55mm f/2.8 AL[IF] SDM AW Lens, Photography, Seasons, Travel, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park
I can remember when photographing a forest was sort of an afterthought. Now, I love walking into the forests to photograph the myriad shades of green, the different patterns and textures, and perhaps, if I am lucky, to capture the inner glow of a forest.
The forests of Sol Duc are old growth. They are different from the mossy rain forests of the Hoh and Quinault in that they are taller – or, at least, they stand straighter, like toothpicks – and it’s a bit drier in the Sol Duc. That’s not to say there isn’t moss coating the trees, because there is, just not as much, I think.
I was heading out of the Sol Duc and on to Lake Crescent when I stopped to photograph the Sol Duc River. I spied some interesting scenes within the shadowed interior of the forest across the road and noticed there was a trail – the North Fork Sol Duc River Trail, I believe. So I took my tripod and camera and set up on different portions of the trail to photograph the tall trees and green fern-carpeted forest floor.
A tripod is the best way to photograph the shadowy forest interior. That way, you can use a low ISO (200) and a slower shutter speed (5 sec) while keeping your aperture relatively small (f/9).
I would imagine that with the onset of fall, things are probably getting a little wetter out there now. I think I went at just the right time.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Filed under 24-105mm, 5DS, Canon, Canon Lens, forest, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State
… for 42 miles. So you’d better stock up.
You never know what you’ll see when you take your camera out. I was walking along the Stehekin Valley Road after I’d checked into my lodge room. I passed a fellow ferry passenger, who told me I’d see some interesting sights further up the road. This particular sight caused me to burst out laughing.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under 24-105mm, 5DS, Canon, Canon Lens, Humor, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, National Parks, North Cascades, Photography, Seasons, Stehekin, summer, Travel, Washington State
I have no idea what possessed me to look up at this particular juncture during my foray along the Grove of The Patriarchs Trail in Mount Rainier National Park. I think it might have been to see if I could spot the little bird that was singing so exuberantly. The moment my eyes lit upon this forked tree top and the spider web between the prongs, I immediately thought of Sauron’s searching eye in The Return Of The King.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
I had reached the Washington Pass Overlook and was dying to get out to photograph the view and stretch my legs. So, I hefted a camera with a wide-angle lens and another camera with the 100-400mm lens both around my neck (I;m used to doing this from my past experience photographing weddings) and trod up the trail to the part of the view looking back down along the North Cascades Highway (opposite view from the previous posts). One of the first things that caught my eye, after taking in the view, was a little “knob” I saw on top of that second tree to your left. I couldn’t figure out if that was a tiny birdy or just a part of the tree, itself. When I looked through the telephoto lens, I saw that it was indeed a little bird. I have no idea what it is called (other than “bird”). Anybody know about birds in the West and Northwest?
Anyway, this is a good example of how being observant not only creates good photo ops, but also makes you a better photographer in general. I mean, how many other people standing up there even noticed there was this little bird waaaaay up on that tall tree?
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under 1DX Mk II, 24-105mm, 5DS, birds, Canon, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, Canon Lens, Equipment, nature, North Cascades, Photography, Seasons, Spring, Travel, Washington State
When we go out into nature with our cameras, our attention is grabbed by geometry, whether we realize it or not. We are fascinated by patterns, lines, arcs, angles, circles and ellipses.
In this particular image, the first thing catching my attention on that rainy morning in Mount Rainier National Park were the tall trees standing at attention next to that somewhat-arc of a swiftly-flowing stream.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
What are your plans for this Memorial Day weekend? My plans are to stay at home and work on another article for the National Parks Traveler. My nice little 3-day trip was last week, before the hordes ascended upon Mount Rainier National Park. This past Thursday, while grocery shopping at the local Fred Meyer, I drove past the Fred Meyer gas station and saw all sorts of RVs lined up for gasoline. Some of them even towed boats behind them. All were getting ready for their trips out into Nature. I will admit, the nice thing about living in central Washington is that I’m so close to so many beautiful places for R&R.
This shot was taken after the sun had risen a bit above the horizon. Mount Rainier behind me was still hidden by the clouds, so I concentrated my camera lens on the Tatoosh Mountains in front of me, in the Paradise area. At the time I captured this shot, there was only one other person out there some distance away – another photographer using his telephoto lens. Getting out in the early morning is a great way to start a day of photography, because most people are not yet up, so it feels like you have the entire place to yourself.
For those of you who celebrate Memorial Day (mainly the U.S., I guess), have a safe and enjoyable 3-day weekend.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under 24-105mm, Canon, Canon Lens, Memorial Day, Mt. Rainier National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, National Parks, Photography, Seasons, Spring, Travel, Washington State
One of today’s newly-published articles in the National Parks Traveler is titled “Leave No Trace This Summer As You Explore The Outdoors.” This article reminded me of this image that I had just reworked, so I thought I’d post it along with the advice to leave no trace and pack in what you pack out. Is it possible to really leave no trace? Well, go read the article in the Traveler to find out.
This image was taken 10 years ago, during the very first photo workshop I’d ever taken, using one of my very first full-frame cameras (Canon 5D). The workshop took place in Glacier National Park, Montana and – while a bit strenuous in terms of hiking for my tastes and physical capabilities – was a worthwhile event that led me to continue joining up in other photo tours and workshops (yes, there is a slight difference between the two and I actually wrote an article about it in the National Parks Traveler back in 2014).
This image is looking back on part of the trail from St. Mary Falls leading onward to Virginia Falls.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under 24-105mm, 5D, Canon, Canon Lens, Equipment, Glacier National Park MT, Montana, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Travel, Travel and Photography
Where The Trails Take You Photography 
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