Tag Archives: rain forest

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

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

December 4, 2019 · 9:09 am

A Tall Tree

Big tree, small tree, short tree, tall tree. I don’t know if I just made that up or if I read it in some Dr. Seuss book. Anyway, when I first stepped upon the Hall of Mosses trail in the Hoh Rain Forest of Olympic National Park, I looked up at this very tall tree and snapped a shot of it with my iPhone. There are some very tall trees, indeed, in this place.

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Filed under National Parks, Olympic National Park, Photography

Tagged as August, Hoh rain forest, iPhone, iphonepic, Olympic National Park, photography, rain forest, rainforest, summer, tall tree, tree, Washington, Washington State, where the trails take you

September 25, 2019 · 9:46 am

Creepy

I know, what a word to use for something as beautiful as the scenery along the Hall of Mosses trail in the Hoh Rain Forest of Olympic National Park. Actually, this image (just in time for Halloween, I might add), is a duplicate of the color one I uploaded to a post a couple of days ago. I wondered how forest interiors might look if converted to monochrome. I immediately noticed the clarity and texture of the tree roots, and the play of shadow and light in the scene. A lovely, green and brown serene scene became a bit more sinister in black and white.

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Filed under Black & White, Halloween, HD PENTAX-DA645 28-45mm f/4.5 ED AW SR Lens, National Parks, Olympic National Park, Pentax Lens, Photography, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as 645z, black & white, black and white, creepy, forest, Halloween, Hoh rain forest, light & shadow, light and shadow, medium format, monochrome, National Park, Olympic National Park, Pentax, rain forest, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, shadows, texture, trees, Washington State

September 21, 2019 · 1:51 pm

To Orton Or Not To Orton … That Is The Question

Scenery along the Hall of Mosses trail, with and without the Orton Effect, Hoh Rain Forest, Olympic National Park

Just as I have memorized the ingredients to only one drink (a prosecco margarita) so that I no longer need to look up the recipe, I have now memorized how to create the Orton Effect in a photo and won’t need to look up the instructions. What is the Orton Effect? It’s a method of creating a dreamy, Lord Of The Rings-type atmosphere within an image. Oh, I still prefer my images to look natural, but I must admit, the Orton Effect, when used judiciously, looks kinda cool, is easy to create (if you know how to create a Layer in Photoshop), and adds to the other photo editing stuff in my repertoire. The more I learn, the better I become.

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

Tagged as 28-45mm, 645z, Hall of Mosses, Hoh rain forest, medium format, National Park, Olympic National Park, orton, Pentax, photography, rain forest, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, special effect, Washington, Washington State

September 20, 2019 · 10:12 am

Rain Forest Shapes, Colors, And Light

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. 😁

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

Tagged as 645z, August, forest, green, HDR, Hoh rain forest, medium format, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Pentax, rain forest, rainforest, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, summer, travel, tree roots, trees, Washington, Washington State

September 19, 2019 · 8:30 am

A Forest Full Of Busy-ness

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.

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Filed under Canon, Canon Lens, forest, National Parks, nature, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, summer, Travel, Washington State

Tagged as brown, ferns, forest, green, Hoh, landscape, moss, National Park, Olympic National Park, photography, rain forest, rainforest, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, travel, trees, Washington, Washington State

August 24, 2019 · 9:35 am

The Bridge Over July Creek

When I visited Olympic National Park this past January 2019, the government shutdown was still in force, and the park entrance to the Hoh Rainforest was closed and blockaded due to heavy debris on the road with no ranger service to clean it up. I was aching to see some park rainforest (and wanted to get photos for my National Parks Traveler articles), so I drove south of Kalaloch about 27 miles to enter the park portion of the Quinault Rainforest. Not too far along the road after entering is a parking lot for a picnic area and short loop trail over July Creek. Nobody else was there that damp, moody morning, so I had the place to myself. I spent quite awhile photographing the creek and the greenery around it, just from my vantage point on that bridge in the photo. After a bit, I moved off and turned my camera and tripod toward the bridge. I also used the “silky water” technique to make the creek water look satiny. For those of you who might want to try this technique for yourself, you should have either a polarizer filter or a neutral density filter on your lens. Set your camera on a tripod and experiment with slow shutter speeds while keeping everything else set for good exposure. The dark tint of the filter allows you to smooth out the water while preventing overexposure of everything else.

I will be bypassing the Quinault Rainforest for my next Olympic National Park trip (which I start tomorrow), so I’m glad I was able to visit this particular area of the park earlier in the year.

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Filed under Canon, forest, Landscape, National Parks, nature, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, Travel, Washington State, winter

Tagged as Canon, January, July Creek, Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, photography, Quinault, rain forest, rainforest, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, silky water, travel, Washington, Washington State, winter

February 8, 2019 · 8:54 am

Dreaming In The Rainforest

This image was a total accident. I was walking along the Maple Glade Rainforest Nature Trail in the Quinault Rainforest of Olympic National Park. I’d set the tripod and camera up to capture this scene, when one of the tripod legs began sinking down into the wet ground right when the 2-second timer went off and the shutter clicked. I didn’t even know I’d gotten this photo until I downloaded it that night. I decided I liked it for its surreal view. And it’s a great example of the kind of look you can get when you are zooming your lens in or out (or when your tripod leg starts to sink in the mud).

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Filed under 5DS, Canon, National Parks, nature, Olympic National Park, Photography, Seasons, Travel, Washington State, winter

Tagged as 5DS, Canon, ferns, green, January, landscape, landscape photography, lens effect, Maple Glade Rainforest Nature Trail, moss, photographic accident, Quinault, rain forest, rainforest, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, scenery, surreal, Washington, Washington State, winter, zoom

January 31, 2019 · 8:13 am

Shutdown In The Parks: Olympic National Park

I recently spent a few days in Olympic National Park, Washington. I wrote a short article for the National Parks Traveler about what I saw (or didn’t see) during my visit, which was just prior to the lifting of the government shutdown. To read my article, click on the photo above.

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Filed under Canon, National Parks, National Parks Traveler, Olympic National Park, Photography, Travel, Washington State, winter

Tagged as beach, Canon, government shutdown, green, National Park, National Parks Traveler, Olympic, Olympic National Park, photography, Quinault, rain forest, rainforest, Rebecca Latson Photography, rebeccalatsonphotography, shutdown, travel, winter