Here’s a fun fact for you (nothing to do with St. Paddy): that green you see in this image is thermophilic (heat-loving) algae. And it’s a red algae called Cyanidium that doesn’t have the pigment for the color red. So it’s green. You can see this in Porcelain Basin at Yellowstone National Park.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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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.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under California, forest, leading lines, National Parks, Photography, Redwood National and State Parks, Travel
Green anemones at Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park in Washington
Moss-covered trees in a lowland interior forest of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington
Unfurled fern fronds against a bokeh’d background of open fern fronds in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Green ground cover in the Hoh Rain Forest of Olympic National Park in Washington
If you are out and about (and a good distance apart from any other hiker) in a nationanl park or national monument or national forest, then after viewing the wide-angle vistas before you, take a look at the greenery that makes up the scenery, since it’s the little things that flesh out a landscape’s Big Picture.
“May you have all the happiness and luck that life can hold, and at the end of all your rainbows, may you find a pot of gold.” … of course, you might have to engage in some sort of shillelagh fight with a leprachaun to get that pot of gold for yourself, but I know you can do it.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Filed under Canon, Canon Lens, Holidays, National Parks, Photography, St. Patrick's Day
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.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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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
A part of the Marymere Falls Trail in Olympic National Park
Wow! I just realized earlier this morning that this weekend is the last one of 2019. Next weekend will be in a new decade!
I wonder where the 2020 trails will take me. Hopefully to more photographic adventure. There are a couple of national parks that I want to visit for certain.
What about you? Where do you think the 2020 trails will take you?
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
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Filed under Canon, Canon Lens, National Parks, Olympic National Park, 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
I’m glad I visited Olympic National Park when I did, because it’s got some rainy weather going on now and probably will for the foreseeable future, I am guessing. Fall is coming. Winter is coming. Lots of rain and wet are coming to the Olympic Peninsula.
I captured this image because, as I was wandering the Hall of Mosses trail in the Hoh Rain Forest, I noticed the sun peeking through the trees. It created what is called a “single point light source” and is great for producing photographic sunbursts. I’d already set the tripod and camera up to photograph the interesting roots, and that little bit of sunburst light was a cherry on top.
I used my Pentax 645z medium format camera for this. I don’t use this camera as often as I should, because it produces wonderful images. As a matter of fact, I’m taking it with me on my forthcoming Yellowstone trip. I’m not even going to tell you how heavy the camera pack is, or the fact that I am carrying one of the long lenses in my laptop bag so I don’t have to put anything in checked luggage. 😁
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved
While photographing the Hoh Rain Forest, I noticed my compositions were so “busy.” Lifting my eyes away from the viewfinder, I took a really good look at the scenery and realized that the rain forest is, indeed, full of “busy-ness.” There is a riot of tree limbs, branches and trunks, mosses draped over the limbs and carpeting the trunks, ferns and other flora blanketing the ground, and so many shades of greens and browns.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Filed under Canon, Canon Lens, forest, National Parks, nature, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State
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
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
Where The Trails Take You Photography 
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