As mentioned in my previous post, one of the main sites we wanted to visit during our visit were the popular California Coast Redwoods. Of course, the Redwoods are not in one area, they are spread out along the northern California coastline where the climate is perfect for them to thrive. We selected a spot near the middle of the various parks to reduce travel time to each one. Ultimately we ended up just visiting two of the primary ones, Humbolt Redwoods State Park and Redwoods National Park. There are some other parks further north towards the Oregon border, but we simply ran out of time to venture that far.
Coast Redwood Forest TR9466
Redwoods themselves are an interesting species of tree. Aside from their great size and height, their bark can be up to a foot thick (305 cm). This makes them very resistant to insects, as well as fires. Their biggest threats appear to be damage due to other falling trees, and climate change. Climate is the main reason they are now limited to this isolated region of the north California and Oregon coastlines, reaching only about 40-50 miles inland. Due to their extreme height (up to 380 feet / 115 m), they actually span three different climate zones, from the shady, moist forest floor, to the stem in between, to the sunny, windy, and drier canopy. Another interesting fact I learned is that the larger trees can release up to 500 gallons of water into the air per day. No doubt an important contribution to the climate of the entire region.
There are only 3 species of Redwood trees, the Coast Redwoods, the Giant Sequoia’s near the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the Dawn Redwood. These species used to be spread across Europe, North America, and Asia about 160 million years ago, but changes in climate have now limited them to a few select regions. I wrote about Dawn Redwoods in this post previously because I have a few in my yard and enjoyed photographing the cones. Coast Redwoods have a very similar cone to the Dawn Redwood, and are the tallest of the three.
The Human Insect, Photo by Lisa Graf
Photographing these trees presented a challenge, not a new observation by a photographer by any means. It is one of the main motivations behind the special National Geographic project some months back where they stitched a vertical panoramic together to capture the height of an entire tree. Click the link to see the photo, it is really quite amazing. You really can’t get a feel for the true size otherwise. Sure you can get photos of a person standing at the base (which we did), but it only captures a small portion of the entire tree.
The panoramic photo in this post is stitched of 4 vertical frames. It attracted me simply because of the beauty of this clearing we encountered in Humbolt Redwoods State park. It is part of the Rockefeller Forest area, the oldest “old growth” grove of Redwood trees in the world. The larger trees are probably as big as the one my back is against above. It doesn’t do any justice to communicating the size of the trees, nor are these some of the largest, but is more an appreciation of the density and beauty of these forests. The Redwoods being the pillars of their survival and the many species dependent on them.
A really stunning panoramic, Mark! There is just something so magical about these forests.
Sounds like the two of you had a great anniversary trip. The redwoods are one of the natural wonders of the world that are best experienced in person. There is a whole level of understanding that is obtained by standing in a grove of redwoods that are 2000 years old and force you to put things in Perspective.
Your photos bring back memories of my last trip to that area about 4 years ago. Something I’m looking forward to sharing with MG once he’s old enough to remember/appreciate it.
I fully agree Greg. You feel quite insignificant in a place like this, although that shouldn’t inhibit anyone from placing this on their bucket list.
David, a belated thanks.
Monte, I guarantee you will Be in awe!
Visiting those magnificent trees are now on my list. The farthest north of San Francisco I been is Napa Valley so I would really enjoy such a trip. This image is Awesome and just as Earl, I would not have even thought of stitching images together. This would be a great image to cover one complete wall of any room. in a house. That insect does not look too menacing but it sure does have a big smile.
I’ve always been a big Redwood fan and around them from time to time most of my life. From your description, you made it to two of the best places for them. Your photographs turned out very well. I enjoyed reading your text about some of the interesting particulars of the trees.
I have seen only the Giant Sequoia’s near the Sierra Nevada mountains, but they are unforgettable. I had no idea that these wonders of nature spanned three climate zones with their astonishing height.
Your stitched photo is grand and gorgeous. I, too, will cast my vote for that wall size print. You are off to an amazing start with the photos from this trip. Many of us will be haunting your site hoping for frequent updates.
Anita, agreed on being unforgettable. The Giant Sequoia’s can get larger in girth, but the Coast Redwoods have the claim to fame for being the tallest. If you have a nice 14′ wall that could use some wallpaper, contact me. 🙂
Beautiful images and great compositions. I live around the redwoods and know that a good comp. is not the easiest thing! Glad you enjoyed your trip out here and thank you for sharing these. Come back soon. 🙂
Thanks Joolz. You certainly live in a beautiful area, with very pleasant climate.
Tha pano looks really nice. Alwazs when I see such a view into the forest I feel all the energy included in all those living organisms. It energizes me. Thanks, Mark.
It is an area with much greater biomass density than the Amazon Rainforest Tomas. Yes, I agree there is energy in the air here.
lol, i’m not sure I’d have wanted to climb right into the top like they did in the Nat Geo pano photo either. It must have been amazing to see such massive trees.
There is a companion video about a biologist who has made it a mission to climb to the top of all the big ones. I am not sure if it is him in those pictures, I’d have to look again. But the video shows him scaling many of them.
Gorgeous! The one with you between the trees really gives a sense of scale to the massive size of these trees.
Thanks Roberta. Yeah, I really don’t like posing, but only the shots with me or my wife in them really show the size.
Earl, you are quite right, panoramics of this size just can’t be displayed properly on the net. I can only hope that someday it may be printed to the wall size you suggest. I think you would really enjoy it there. Just driving through is quite impressive. There is a road called Avenue of the Giants, and it is very appropriately named.
Mark, nicely applied creative approach to getting this beautiful shot — 4 portrait frames. It’s one of those methods which makes perfect sense when you hear of it but wouldn’t be the first method you’d think of — or at least I wouldn’t until now. My first thought viewing this shot was it needed to be blown up to wall size (14’x8′) to fully appreciate it.
So I just reshuffled my bucket list and put northern California/Redwoods nearer the top thanks to you.
Kudos to Lisa for “wildlife” shot — photographers are extremely hard to capture in front of a camera in the wild. 🙂
These trees are extraordinary and the pano is really very nice. It’s probably the best way to photograph them. The shot with your back against the tree gives it some scale. Makes me want to go back to CA.
Ken, thanks. I never include any people in my work, so it was hard to communicate scale. I kept hoping for a deer or bear to walk into the scene, but no such luck.
Sweet! Looks like you guys had a great trip!
Thanks Ron. Yes, it was quite nice.