Tag Archives: forest

November 2, 2022 · 4:00 am

Forest Restoration, Resilience, And Protection At Lassen Volcanic National Park

Restoration, resilience, and protection are key words used in my Feature Story published in today’s edition of the National Parks Traveler. I had the opportunity to speak with the Lassen Volcanic National Park superintendent and information officer during my recent October stay at this national park, and subsequently wrote an article about the proactive steps park management has been taking and continues to take to ensure a healthy forest ecosystem in the face of past and possibly future wildfires.

Click on the image above to read my article.

The image was captured during my early morning drive toward the Bumpass Hell area.

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Filed under Lassen Volcanic National Park, National Parks Traveler, Photography

Tagged as feature story, forest, Lassen Volcanic National Park, National Park, National Parks Traveler, photography, where the trails take you, wildfire

July 11, 2021 · 8:30 am

The Lure Of The Leading Line

Or maybe I should have titled this post “The Lure Of The Trail.” Both are appropriate and actually meld into one another. I love leading lines – they are my favorite theme – and my favorite type of leading line is a trail. That trail leads the viewer’s eye deeper into the composition and onward to whatever adventure awaits. And trails within forests are my favorite, if for no other reason than the forest’s interior glow surrounded by green and brown shadows.

All of the images above were captured with my Sony Alpha 7riv and a 16-35mm lens during my 2020 October visit to Redwood National and State Parks. And all of these images were captured along one of the many trails in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in northern California. The tops of the trees are veiled a little bit in mist, as this trip was during the height of all the wildfires in California. Smoke drifted in from everywhere.

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Filed under California, forest, leading lines, National Parks, Photography, Redwood National and State Parks, Travel

Tagged as 16-35mm, a7rIV, Alpha, autumn, brown, California, forest, green, hike, hiking, leading line, leading lines, mirrorless, October, path, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, redwoods, Redwoods National and State Parks, Sony, state park, trail, trees, where the trails take you, wide angle, wide-angle, woods

October 27, 2020 · 6:17 am

Redwoods Were Made For Verticals

*The road into the redwoods – Howland Hill Road, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park*

My monthly photo column is now published in the National Parks Traveler. In it, I talk about how Redwood National and State Parks are the perfect places to capture plenty of vertical shots, with the occasional horizontal thrown in for good measure.

To read the article, click on the photo above.

The image above is of Howland Hill Road, a dirt and gravel road through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, which takes the driver to the parking area of Stout Grove. This road was my first introduction to redwoods, and I actually almost got lost trying to find the road. You see, the road runs for about 7 miles and you can enter it either just outside of Crescent City, CA, or a mile or two east of the Haiouchi Visitor Center along CA Highway 199. I opted for the Crescent City approach only to discover that road was closed less than a mile in, for construction work. I was hemmed in by huge construction tractors and had to gingerly make my way back down the hill and onto the highway to get to Howland Hill Road via the Hwy 199 route. The drive was worth it, though, as Stout Grove is a perfect introduction to coastal redwoods.

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Filed under California, forest, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Redwood National and State Parks, Travel

Tagged as autumn, California, coastal redwood, forest, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, National Park, National Parks Traveler, October, photography, Photography In The National Parks, Redwood National and State Parks, redwood tree, trees

October 15, 2020 · 6:26 am

Three Days in Redwood National and State Parks

*Looking up at some very tall trees in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park*

If you only have a short time to spend in Redwood National and State Parks, in northern California, then you should read my latest article published in the National Parks Traveler, about what you can do and see in just three days in this collaboration of national and state parks.

To read the article, click on the image above.

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Filed under California, forest, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Photography, Redwoods National and State Parks, Travel

Tagged as California, forest, National Park, National Parks Traveler, photography, redwood, redwoods, Redwoods National and State Parks, travel, trees, where the trails take you

October 13, 2020 · 6:45 am

It’s Trivia Tuesday!

*The Penthouse Tree, Lady Bird Johnson Grove Loop Trail, Redwood National and State Parks*

They call this tree the “Penthouse Tree.” The damaged bark revealed the heartwood of this tree, which began to rot. In so rotting, it provided nutrients for other vegetation, such as the leather fern and evergreen huckleberry growing atop this redwood. This vegetation has a room with a view! If you ever have a chance to visit Redwood National and State Parks, you should definitely wander this 1.3-mile easy trail located in Redwood National Park. There’s a plaque dedicated to Lady Bird Johnson, who was there to dedicate this national park. Many of the sights you’ll see have numbered stakes beside them that correspond to descriptions in a brochure of this hike. The brochure used to be available at the trailhead, but due to Covid, the box is no longer stocked. You can, however, print out and read your own copy of the pamphlet by clicking on the image above.

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Filed under 5DSR, California, Canon, Canon 11-24mm, Canon Lens, National Parks, Photography, Redwood National and State Parks, Travel, trees, Trivia Tuesday

Tagged as 11-24mm, 5DSR, California, Canon, forest, Lady Bird Johnson Grove, penthouse tree, photography, redwood, Redwood National and State Parks, tree, Trivia Tuesday

September 26, 2020 · 8:02 am

The Difference In Elevation

The next time you visit a place that has some elevation difference, take a moment to observe the other differences due to that elevation difference. For instance, notice the differences in these images here? The lowland forest interior, captured at the entrance to Westside Road in Mount Rainier National Park, looks deep and dark and is filled with lush vegetation like ferns and devils club along with dead logs and moss on parts of the trees. Sunlight makes its way into the forest in spots. Whereas the forest along Trail of Shadows in the Longmire Historic District looks – well – clearer, with more space in between the trees, less moss, and a clearer forest floor. Yes, there’s vegetation there, too, but as you can see, not quite as thick. In part because it’s not quite as wet as it is in the lowland forest, plus the difference in elevation between the Nisqually entrance and Longmire creates a difference in temperatures, too. Observation is key to getting nice photos, rather than just a grabshot.

*Peering Into The Lowland Forest At Westside Road, Mount Rainier National Park*

*Looking Into A Smoky Forest Along The Trail Of Shadows, Longmire Historic Districe, Mount Rainier National Park*

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Filed under Forest, Mount Rainier National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, National Parks, Photography, Sony Alpha a7r IV

Tagged as a7rIV, forest, higher elevation, lowland, mirrorless, Mount Rainier, Mt. Rainier, National Park, photography, Sony, Sony Alpha, travel, trees, vegetation, Washington, Washington State

February 1, 2020 · 9:25 am

Solitude And Tranquility

It’s the weekend, folks. Where will the trail take you? Perhaps to a quiet little pond for some solitude and thouthfulness? That’s what this image from Lake Clark National Park and Preserve brings to mind for me. It was a morning with no bears around to photograph, so we concentrated on other things during our hike out of a forest and into this misty meadow.

That’s a good lesson for you photographers out there. Often, we have high expectations of what we will see during a trip to a national park (or anywhere, for that matter). When it doesn’t pan out according to your expectations, then change those expectations and start observing what you see around you. On that morning, sans bears, I photographed a field filled with spiderwebs bejeweled with dewdrops. a downed nurselog housing a clump of tiny mushrooms, an orb weaver spider spinning a web, and this pond with it’s feathered swimmers within a golden meadow surrounded by mountains and a forest obscured by mist. It was lovely.

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Filed under Alaska, Canon, Lake Clark National Park, National Parks, nature, Photography, Travel

Tagged as Alaska, Canon, ducks, expectations, forest, Lake Clark, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, life, meadow, mist, mountains, National Park, photography, pond, travel, where the trails take you

January 13, 2020 · 10:13 am

Fun Fact For Your Monday

Here’s a fun fact for your Monday: the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park gets over 12 feet of rain a year. So, when you go visit, make sure you take along a rain jacket.

The image below was taken during late summer, and it was actually a dry day. In truth, all the days I was there in the park were dry days – well, ok, except for the last two days, when I visited Hurricane Ridge.

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Filed under HD PENTAX-DA645 28-45mm f/4.5 ED AW SR Lens, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Pentax 645z, Pentax Lens, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as 28-45mm, 645z, forest, green, Hoh rain forest, medium format, National Park, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Pentax, rain forest, rainforest, summer, Washington, Washington State, where the trails take you

October 31, 2019 · 8:55 am

Something Wicked This Way Comes …

Imagine yourself, all alone, walking through a dark forest full of twisting and twisted trees. You know something is lurking out there, watching you. You’ve got to get away, but where do you run that you won’t stumble over twisted tree roots? You know something wicked this way comes for you.

On Halloween, even national park forests, like this one in Olympic National Park along the Sol Duc Falls Trail, can look pretty sinister and spooky, when given a little black & white conversion and some vignetting around the edges.

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Filed under Halloween, Halloween, monochrome, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Photography

Tagged as black & white, black and white, color conversion, forest, Halloween, monochrome, National Park, Olympic National Park, photography, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, sinister, spooky, trees, twisted, woods

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