On my recent trip up the California coast to the redwoods, I had an opportunity to pop up into Oregon to visit Harris State Beach, home of a very interesting sea arch. The arch is carved into a rock wall just offshore, with plenty of interesting boulders along the beach, giving enterprising photographers many options for compositions. As the sun was setting, I settled for a more centered approach to my composition, centering the arch directly above a centered rock. Usually I avoid such centering, choosing instead to lead the viewer’s eye out of one of the lower corners, but in this case I think it works. Simple, yet strong.
The sun sets behind offshore sea stacks, Harris Beach State Park
After settling on a composition I was happy with, I had a few minutes to run north in order to catch the sun as it set behind a large sea stack. In order to get into a position where the sun would set behind the rock, I scrambled up onto another rock and perched precariously at the top, while trying to give my tripod enough room. Let’s just say that I was relieved when I got the shot and could climb back down, by body and camera gear still in tact.
Large flat rocks lead through the rising tide to a dark sea arch in a rock wall, Harris State Beach
After the sun dropped below the horizon, I went back to the sea arch and really explored the foreground rocks. I fell in love with these ones, but from their vantage point, you could not see all the way through the arch. In this case, I chose to crop the top of the photo, as the rock wall really wasn’t that interesting and instead focus the photo on the foreground rocks themselves. The low light allowed for a slow shutter speed, turning the rushing waves into a calm mist.
The sun sets behind a bank of offshore clouds, silhouetting the sea stacks at Harris State Beach, Oregon
The parking area at Harris Beach offers commanding views down onto the beach below, and just before I left, I spent some time with the very last of the sunset light. Here there was a nice stream forming an s-curve into the photo. Overall I found this a pretty photogenic beach, and I know I’ll be back in the future, especially to shoot that arch in different types of light.
A couple of weeks ago I made a trip north to shoot old growth redwoods during the spring rhododendron bloom. It was my first time to the area and was quite an experience. First of all, I found the landscape quite challenging. Once I entered a redwood forest, it was a sensory overload, with subjects to shoot everywhere. The forest was so busy with life that it became difficult to distill each shot down to an individual subject. I could shoot everything from a super wide angle with trees converging into the fog, to macro detail shots of leaves, moss and flowers.
Ferns grow at the base of a large redwood tree, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
I visited several old growth forests in the vicinity of Redwoods National Park. However, I never visited the park itself, as the oldest forest is preserved in several state parks in the area. These California state parks contain the first trees to be saved from the lumber mills, with the national park encompassing whatever land was left unprotected decades later.
Rhododendron grows throughout a redwood forest shrouded in fog, Del Norte Redwoods State Park
This time of year is very popular for photographers because of the massive rhododendron bloom throughout these forests. The best way to capture the flowering bushes against the giant redwood trunks is to wait for thick fog to permeate the forest, which luckily happens quite often this time of year.
Fog does two things – first, it evens out the lighting in the forest by diffusing sunlight. This prevents the harsh contrast sometimes seen in thick forests when thousands of small light beams spotlight the vegetation. Cameras can’t capture this kind of contrast, and the fog cuts it out completely. Secondly, fog fills in behind the closest trees and greatly simplifies the scene. Instead of seeing a dense forest and all its detail behind the closest redwoods and rhododendrons, you instead see a misty fog. The viewer’s eye can stay focused on the main subject matter.
Intertwining leaves of false lily-of-the-valley form an abstract pattern, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
In addition to capturing my main target, the forest provided opportunities for macro shots as well. Walking along the trails, I always kept an eye out for interesting patterns formed naturally. I found the large green leaves of false lily-of-the-valley intertwined and zoomed in to pick out a pattern among the leaves.
Naturally, there were also other interesting subjects, such as this fungus growing on a decaying tree branch.
A fungus grows from the branch of a decaying redwood, Del Norte Redwoods State Park
The last morning I was in town, I was greeted by a light steady rain. Normally this kind of weather would see me rising, checking the window, and then jumping back into bed. However the rain also came with more fog, which actually created ideal conditions for more forest photography. Not necessarily the best conditions for me, but with my camera well protected with its own rain gear, the resulting photos came out just fine.
Rhododendrons grow amongst the redwoods along the California coast. Fog regularly permeates the forest, giving these giants the perfect conditions in which to grow.
The forest offered more than just lush green vegetation and enormous trees. Some of the older trees had large gashes and burns which lent to more graphical than subjective photographs. Here the negative space formed by the dark burn marks frames and offsets the light window to a distant tree.
Dark burns cut a graphic pattern through the base of giant redwood trees, Del Norte Redwoods State Park
Once the fog cleared, there were moments of magical, ethereal sunlight filtering through the canopy. I loved finding backlit ferns juxtaposed against a much darker wall of redwood. The photo below contains a bonus element of a double swoop of sorrel framing the bottom of the photo.
Sorrel, fern and redwood trees all contribute to the many shades of green of a redwood forest, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
It was a brief, challenging weekend. I’m not sure if I quite hit my stride in the redwood forest, which is usually an indicator that another visit is in order in the near future. There were difficult shooting conditions with the rain, and the sheer complexity of the forest had me scratching my head more than once. It is times like those that I have to take my hands away from the camera and just sit with the surroundings, listening. More often than not, it will tell me where to point my lens next.
Rhododendrons grow amongst the redwoods along the California coast. Fog regularly permeates the forest, giving these giants the perfect conditions in which to grow.
Recently I made my way down to the newly minted Pinnacles National Park, California’s ninth. Legislation to make Pinnacles National Monument a national park passed the United States Senate on December 30, 2012. Located just southeast of Hollister, it is an easy day trip from the San Francisco Bay Area.
A California Condor perches on a branch in front of a rock wall, Pinnacles National Park
This area is known for being a possible location to spot the rare and endangered California Condor. At present, there are only 226 total California Condors in the wild. The species was nearly decimated in the 60s and 70s with the introduction of DDT into the environment. In fact, in 1987, there were only 22 condors left in the world, all of them in captivity. I was amazingly lucky to see one perched close to a trail, offering point blank views for several minutes.
A California Condor perches on a branch in front of a rock wall, Pinnacles National Park
Unfortunately, I was in the middle of a 5 mile hike with some serious elevation, which meant carrying my big lens wasn’t appropriate. I had a full frame camera, with a 70-200mm lens attached. Luckily, I was helped by both the close proximity of the bird, and its sheer size. They have a wingspan of up to 10 feet, giving them the largest wingspan of any North American bird. Some of the larger specimens have weighed in at 31 pounds.
Pinnacles National Park features many rock spires dotting the landscape. The Pinnacles are part of the Neenach Volcano which erupted 23 million years ago near present-day Lancaster, California. The movement of the Pacific Plate along the San Andreas Fault split a section of rock off from the main body of the volcano and moved it 195 miles to the northwest.
As far as national parks go, Pinnacles is very small. However, it contains some important and interesting geological history. The Pinnacles are part of the Neenach Volcano which erupted 23 million years ago near present-day Lancaster, California. The movement of the Pacific Plate along the San Andreas Fault split a section of rock off from the main body of the volcano and moved it 195 miles to the northwest.
Light steams down through the ceiling at the entrance to Bear Gulch Cave, Pinnacles National Park
The park is home to several talus caves, which are home to at least 13 different species of bat. Trails are built through the caves and can be explored by flashlight.
It would probably take two full days to explore the highlights of this park (and by explore, I mean including several lengthy hikes to hit some of the peaks). Spring seems like a great time of year – try to catch the wildflowers in bloom. Summer would likely be too hot, easily reaching over 100 degrees. It will be interesting to see if visitation increases due to its new “promoted” status from a monument to a park.
My favorite exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is the Sandy Shore Exhibit, a constructed habitat for a variety of local shorebirds, which for one reason or another have become captive and can no longer survive in the wild.
A sanderling rests in an injured bird care facility, Monterey Bay Aquarium
Here is a sanderling, which can be found up and down California’s coast. While they can be seen regularly roosting on the beach, it was great to be able to get up close and really appreciate each bird’s attributes.
I spoke to a docent at the exhibit, who said that many of these birds had been injured in the wild, and can not be rehabilitated to the point that they can be released. Others were born in captivity at zoos and other facilities, and made their way to the aquarium due to its excellent reputation.
A ruddy turnstone stands in sand in an injured bird care facility, Monterey Bay Aquarium
These birds receive excellent care, being given food, shelter, and even extra attention for their young. The birds were quite comfortable with the visitors moving through their habitat, and proceeded with their natural behavior. With no glass or obstruction between the viewer and the habitat, you were able to feel as if you were amongst the birds instead of just viewing them from a different environment.
A dunlin has a relatively easy life in an injured bird care facility, Monterey Bay Aquarium
In addition to the dunlin and ruddy turnstone above, which are regular San Francisco bay area residents, a black-bellied plover was present in its winter colors. This plover is one of those difficult species to identify that can look like a completely different bird in the summer verses the winter. As I have been learning to ID birds, I find myself needing to learn not only each species, but each plumage a species can display throughout the year.
A black-bellied plover in winter colors stands in a natural setting within an injured bird care facility, Monterey Bay Aquarium
I was able to get excellent views of a semipalmated plover, which I’ve had bad luck with in the wild. The few times I’ve seen one have been at such a distance as to make it not possible to photograph. While photographing captive birds doesn’t really “count” per se, I still enjoyed the opportunity to see one up close.
A banded semipalmated plover stands in sand in an injured bird care facility, Monterey Bay Aquarium
I would highly recommend a visit to the aquarium, particularly this exhibit. Captive animals can serve as a great means by which to practice photography, especially if you do not have long lenses in your arsenal. Most of the shots here were taken between 200 and 300mm, all hand held. I’ll be sure to get back there soon.
