Eloquent Nature by Gary Hart posted: " This e-mail is the first edition of this post. Click here to read the most current version and see my exposure settings. I love trees, and try to feature them in my images as much as possible. When I say "feature," I don't mean simply including trees"
I love trees, and try to feature them in my images as much as possible. When I say "feature," I don't mean simply including trees in an image (pretty hard to avoid as a landscape photographer with an affinity for California's foothills and mountains), I mean actually using a tree or trees as the basis for my composition.
Given my love for trees, I'm blessed to live in California, where we have many beautiful arboreal specimens, in all shapes and sizes. Sadly, when most people think about California trees, their mind usually jumps to palm trees (one of my least favorite trees and not nearly as ubiquitous in most of the state as most people believe). But when I think about California trees, I go to our foothill oaks, gnarled bristlecones, and regal redwoods.
In fact, in a state with more than its share of unique natural features, California's giant sequoia trees stand out—both figuratively and literally. It's no exaggeration to say that the first sight of these massive giants will drop even the most immutable jaw.
Many outside the state don't that we have two very distinct versions of redwood in California: there's the coastal redwood, which is also quite massive and sometimes even slightly taller than its Sierra cousin. A coastal redwood can reach heights of 350 feel, while the giant redwoods top out at around 300 feet. But, while a mature coastal redwood's trunk might be an impressive 15 feet wide, that pales in comparison to the 35 foot diameter of the General Sherman tree in Sequoia National Park. The giant redwoods also win the longevity battle, with some living more than 3000 years, about 1000 years longer than the oldest coastal redwood.
Unfortunately, many people visit California with redwoods on their must-see check list, drive up or down the coast to the nearest redwood grove, check the been-there box, and return home without even realizing they missed the even larger trees farther east. (I won't get into the debate of which redwood experience is "better," except to say that in my mind, the coast redwood experience is more about the mystical stillness of the grove, while the giant redwood experience is more about the mind boggling mass of individual trees.)
In my previous blog post, I wrote about my recent visit to Tuolumne Grove in Yosemite. With clouds and occasional sprinkles, conditions for photography were ideal. But on my hike down, I was so struck by the electric fall color of the dogwood (also on my list of favorite trees) and other deciduous trees, I almost didn't make it down to the redwoods.
Thankfully, I did make it. But getting there was only half the battle because redwoods' size makes them really hard to photograph—capturing a redwood from top to bottom requires a combination of distance and wide angle that diminishes its unprecedented mass in a photo. And to me the most impressive part of a giant redwood is that massive girth.
On this visit I concentrated on finding large trees surrounded by fall color, meandering along the half-mile loop through the grove, enjoying the peaceful ambiance while keeping my eyes peeled for a suitable composition. Every once in a while I'd set up my tripod and click a frame, but whether it was a distracting trail or fence (nothing manmade in my images), or just a less than ideal vantage point (you can't just wander haphazardly among these shallow-rooted giants), I started heading out of the grove without feeling like I had any real keepers.
Trudging back up the hill and about to exit the grove, I came across a striking redwood, one of the largest I'd seen that day. I realized that by standing in just the right spot and pressing tightly against the low wood fence, I could frame the broad trunk with an assortment of red and yellow dogwood, ferns, and other fall foliage. I stayed here for at least 20 minutes, trying a variety of perspectives and focal lengths before finally landing on this one. (This is also about the time I discovered an especially stupid and embarrassing mistake that I promise to share in a future "Photographers are Stupid" post.)
This shoot was gratifying for many reasons, but especially because, despite my love for trees and the relatively close proximity of the giant sequoias, I have none in my portfolio. Now I do.
Bonus tip
If you love trees (especially redwoods), or just think your world might be made a little better by improving your relationship with trees (spoiler alert: it will be), drop everything you're reading and pick up The Overstory, by Richard Powers. You're welcome.
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