Category Archives: 5DS

March 31, 2020 · 9:39 am

It’s Trivia Tuesday, 3-31-2020

According to the NPS, Sheep Rock (that pointy-peaked mountain), in the Sheep Rock Unit of John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, gets its name from the bighorn sheep that once populated its slopes. At the top of Sheep Rock is the Picture Gorge Basalt. That brown line across the middle part of the mountain is the Picture Gorge Ignimbrite (pumice and volcanic tuff). This ignimbrite makes a nice marker bed by which geologists can place and date geologic events. The green soils you see in the second image are colored by the mineral celadonite. Celadonite comes from the French word for “sea green.”

And now you know.

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Filed under 5DS, Canon, Geology, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, National Monuments, Oregon, Photography, Travel, Trivia Tuesday

Tagged as Canon, geology, John Day Fossil Beds, national monument, Oregon, photography, Picture Gorge basalt, Picture Gorge Ignimbrite, Sheep Rock, Sheep Rock Unit, travel, where the trails take you

March 15, 2020 · 8:58 am

Down The Road In Eastern Oregon

No, the horizon does not need to be straightened. The landscape (and the road, a little) was tilted just like that.

I recently spent 3 days in eastern Oregon, visiting John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. I’ve written a story about my stay that will be published in the National Parks Traveler sometime in April.

As for eastern Oregon, itself, I can tell you the scenery is stunning and the geology is amazing, as you can see in this image.

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Filed under 5DS, Canon, Canon Lens, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, National Parks, Oregon, Travel

Tagged as 24-105, 24-105mm, 5DS, Canon, eastern Oregon, geology, highway, landscape, leading line, March, mountains, Oregon, road, scenery, travel, vanishing point, where the trails take you

February 22, 2020 · 8:03 am

Where Will The Trails Take You?

It’s the weekend! Where will the trails take you? Will you be hiking into adventure or staying closer to home. Wherever you will be, have fun, stay safe, and, if you *are* out hiking, then pack out what you pack in.

This image was captured at the beginning of my walk through the Hall of Mosses Trail in Olympic National Park during my August 2019 visit. The boardwalk made a perfect leading line, and I was hurrying with my camera and 14mm lens to get a nice, wide-angle shot of the boardwalk, the trees in the distance, and the couple on the trail before they disappeared within the shadows of the forest. I thought the two people made a nice bit of scale and reference to the scene.

Summer is a nice time to visit this park, believe it or not. There were lots of people, but nothing compared to the masses I encountered when visiting Yellowstone National Park the previous August of 2018. If you get out early enough, you’ll escape the crowds that appear later in the morning and afternoon.

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Filed under 5DS, Canon, Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II, Canon Lens, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as 14mm, 5DS, Canon, Hall of Mosses, hiking, Hoh rain forest, leading line, National Park, Olympic National Park, prime lens, rain forest, trail, travel, Washington State, where the trails take you, wide angle

September 28, 2019 · 9:16 am

Trees Along The Sol Duc Trail

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.

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Filed under 24-105mm, 5DS, Canon, forest, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as 24-105mm, 5DS, August, Canon, forest, forest interior, green, landscape, National Park, Olympic National Park, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, scenery, Sol Duc, summer, travel, trees, Washington, Washington State

September 15, 2019 · 10:38 am

Tree Geometry In The Sol Duc Valley, Olympic 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.

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Filed under 24-105mm, 5DS, Canon, Canon Lens, forest, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as 24-105mm, 5DS, Canon, ferns, forest, geometry, green, landscape, landscape photography, National Park, Olympic National Park, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, Sol Duc, travel, Washington, Washington State

August 22, 2019 · 10:10 am

Ferns, Moss, Tree Trunks and Inner Glow

I’m pretty much all packed for my Olympic National Park trip. The camera batteries are charged. All I need to do now is pack up the cameras and lenses. Since I’m taking my own car, this means I can have that “kitchen sink” mentality and take whatever I want, because it’s better to have it and not need it, as opposed to needing it and not having it.

The thing about this national park’s rainforests is that there are so many different shades of green and so many different leaves and plants. And,there’s that sort of “glow” within the forest interior. It can be difficult to capture on digital “film,” but when you do, it’s something to be very pleased over.

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Filed under 5DS, Canon, Canon 16-35mm f/2.8L III, Canon Lens, National Parks, nature, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, Travel, Washington State, winter

Tagged as 16-35mm, 5DS, Canon, explore more, ferns, find your park, Get Outside, green, greens, January, moss, National Park, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Opt Outside, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, travel, trees, Washington, Washington State, winter

July 20, 2019 · 8:35 am

Honey Bees On The Thistle Flower

We were waiting for my oldest nephew to arrive from the airport, and I took my camera out into the backyard to photograph the bees on a large thistle bush. This bush is not like the weedy thistles you see sprouting from pavement cracks – it’s more like something a home-and-garden store would sell for a decorative yard plant. The bush is quite large and the spheres are golf-ball sized and covered with lavender flowerets. The honey bees absolutely love them.

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Filed under 5DS, Canon, Canon 70-200mm, Canon Lens, flowers, insects, Life, nature, Photography

Tagged as 5DS, 70-200mm, bee, bees, Canon, flower, floweret, honey bee, honey bees, insect, insects, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, telephoto, telephoto lens, thistle

July 16, 2019 · 8:24 am

Last Gumball Stop

… 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.

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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

Tagged as 24-105mm, 5DS, Canon, funny, gumball, gumballs, humor, July, Lake Chelan, national recreation area, North Cascades, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, Stehekin, summer, WA, Washington, Washington State

June 15, 2019 · 11:11 am

The Searching Eye of Sauron in Nature

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.

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Filed under 24-105mm, 5DS, Canon, Canon Lens, forest, Mount Rainier National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, National Parks, nature, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as 24-105mm, 5DS, art in nature, Canon, eye, forest, Grove of The Patriarchs, hike, hiking, June, Mount Rainier, Mt Rainier, National Park, nature, Sauron, Sauron's searching eye, serendipity, spider web, trail, tree, web

June 7, 2019 · 8:53 am

I Spy With My Little Eye …

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?

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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