Redwood Coast 2015 & 2016

[mdvaden]

Bit over a week ago, I arrived in Crescent City about 7 pm, had supper and a brew, checked out the lighthouse at night, then drove south over the hill to the False Klamath Cove, about 15 minutes drive. I covered my van windows but left the windshield toward the ocean uncovered and took a rest, watching moonlit waves as I dozed off. About 3 am I woke, walked to the beach and took a couple photos.

Drove up to see the overlook of Redwood National Park afterward in the dark, under moonlight with a warm breeze and scent rising up from the valley. About 4 am to 4:30 am. Got back to Crescent City near sunrise.

 

[rbtree]

Nice capture, Mario! With the new 5DR?

I've been doing some simple astrophotography recently...to add to more basic night shots of moonlit landscapes...... I'm looking for a used Rokinon 24 f/1.4 to lower the ISO and keep exposure times optimal in order to freeze stars, when that effect is desired, as opposed to star trails....I've bought a Rokinon 8 mm fisheye, which creates a 180 degree field of view, circular, with the FF bodies, or ~130 with the crop body....fun to play with, for sure....

Check my images on flickr or facebook.... you can see images of what are now the #2 and #4 WR cedars...along with the former champ, taken a bit over a month before it failed....

Really impressed with the improvements of the 7D II over the I.... and now that the 5D IV is about ready to ship, I'm jonesing for one, as the spec's are impressive.... 4K vid at 30 fps..... 7 fps motor drive=fast enough for a 30 mp sensor!...but I'll prolly wait a year or so, or until the good deals start showing up, assuming they do...

 

[mdvaden]

Nice capture, Mario! With the new 5DR?

I've been doing some simple astrophotography recently...to add to more basic night shots of moonlit landscapes...... I'm looking for a used Rokinon 24 f/1.4 to lower the ISO and keep exposure times optimal in order to freeze stars, when that effect is desired, as opposed to star trails....I've bought a Rokinon 8 mm fisheye, which creates a 180 degree field of view, circular, with the FF bodies, or ~130 with the crop body....fun to play with, for sure....

Check my images on flickr or facebook.... you can see images of what are now the #2 and #4 WR cedars...along with the former champ, taken a bit over a month before it failed....

Really impressed with the improvements of the 7D II over the I.... and now that the 5D IV is about ready to ship, I'm jonesing for one, as the spec's are impressive.... 4K vid at 30 fps..... 7 fps motor drive=fast enough for a 30 mp sensor!...but I'll prolly wait a year or so, or until the good deals start showing up, assuming they do...

Hi. Yes, that was with the new 5DS but more for just a keepsake image and to experiment at night.

Ever seen the man Northrup on Youtube? He had a pretty decent feedback on the new 5D Mk iv and made a point about the size of its video files. I'd like to get one too in a year when the refurbished come out, but it will be for photo taking. I almost never take video. But I think you would appreciate his review since it sounds like he does a lot of video stuff too.

 

[mdvaden]

The Fat Lady sings ... find the tiny human.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Amazing! That's not real, right?

 

[mdvaden]

The answer to your question is that the photo is real. I asked my friend to stand there and took his photo. Its not like I cut and pasted his body .. lol ... there's a bit of strategy here though including lens selection, the angle and position of subject.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Very cool photo.

 

[mdvaden]

This one will become at least a 30x40 print canvas. Picked up a 20x30 test print today and could tell it retained enough detail for possibly even the 40 x 60 I hope to display sometime in the gallery.

 

[mdvaden]

Cal-Barrel Rd. in Prairie Creek. Although it's a bit shorter, this last visit convinced me it's about as epic as Howland Hill Rd. through Jedediah Smith. Cal-Barrel Rd. can double as a hiking trail, is much less driven, and shares traits of James Irvine trail's elevated position.

 

[gf beranek]

There's parts of the Boy Scout Trail very similar to the Cal-Barrel also, as both are flanked in pure-stand redwood most of the way.

Some distinction lies in the companion species of both parks, as there's lots of stately hemlock in Prairie Creek 5, 6 and 7 footers. But at Jed Smith the hemlock grows more like weeds between the redwoods. Oh, there's tons of them, but barely any large ones to be found. Soil maybe?

 

[mdvaden]

There's parts of the Boy Scout Trail very similar to the Cal-Barrel also, as both are flanked in pure-stand redwood most of the way.

Some distinction lies in the companion species of both parks, as there's lots of stately hemlock in Prairie Creek 5, 6 and 7 footers. But at Jed Smith the hemlock grows more like weeds between the redwoods. Oh, there's tons of them, but barely any large ones to be found. Soil maybe?

Hey ... I was thinking about you when getting photos along Cal-Barrel Rd., since we visited that neck of the woods once.

RE Jed and the hemlocks, I'm curious if the amount of summer fog and fog-drip might matter a little. I heard there was lots of fog this year, but every time I was at Jed Smith this summer, I saw very little. Unless I just happened to hit the days with least. But the person who told me, is from Arcata area down in Humboldt. And I think Humboldt and Prairie Creek got more fog this year. Jed can get almost the same wet season rain, but maybe the amount of fog moisture can affect the hemlock sizes.

Its also possible soil like you mentioned matters.

PS to my 2nd post back ... I did order the giant redwood photo as a 40 x 60 canvas print, slightly brighter and a hint less saturated. I know I will enjoy a copy for our own wall. Just got to see if it looks right for a gallery. No way to tell until it arrives. The original file implies it should look awesome. But only the real thing will tell. Here's a 100 % crop from the front of the trunk ... this attachment was 2000 pixels wide.

 

[gf beranek]

For a crop the detail is damn sharp. Good glass and large imager. Native res must be better than 6000 wide I suspect.

I been taking pictures of seeds lately. Perfect time of year to do so. My prime macro lens and full frame imager brings out the details. Seeds never look so fine. Still I see ample room to zoom up ever closer.

 

[mdvaden]

For a crop the detail is damn sharp. Good glass and large imager. Native res must be better than 6000 wide I suspect.

I been taking pictures of seeds lately. Perfect time of year to do so. My prime macro lens and full frame imager brings out the details. Seeds never look so fine. Still I see ample room to zoom up ever closer.

Howdy.

The native resolution is 8688 x 5792

So ... the canvas print arrived, which I intended to hang in a Crescent City gallery, etc.. And my wife, Jan, said she wanted to keep it for the dining room. So I just ordered another one. My hunch was right. It looks fine 20 x 30, but a 60 inch wide canvas print gives an entirely different feel to this sort of scene.

Just sold my macro 100mm, but with the 5DS and Tamron's 35mm and 9 in. minimum focus, I may be able to dabble in something similar. This is a lovely season for macro. Not sure if the plant grows down there, but I'm fond of a plant which I think is called Teasel.

 

[mdvaden]

Here's one I'm enjoying from the last month. May print a 14 x 14 canvas of this shot.

 

[gf beranek]

In the years to come, sooner than you think, the view of those redwoods will be lost behind so many young trees coming up from under the road, and in-between.

Terri and I were up at Jed Smith over the weekend. The lighting was funky in the redwoods so we went up the south fork and explored some of the Forest Service roads. High mountain views. Made it to Ship Mountain just shy of the lookout, 4000 feet. Beyond the gates were lock pending the weather we're having right now. This front feels too warm for snow, but at 5,000 feet it might be cold enough.

 

[mdvaden]

I can only imagine how many nooks and crannies you've found and recalled over the years.

Is your adventure vehicle still the small pickup? 4 wheel drive?

I used to have 4 wheel drive, but not anymore. Have chains, if needed though, for areas not too dicey.

 

[mdvaden]

This one, I did order as 14 x 14 canvas print. In about a week, I'll see how it turned out on canvas.

 

[gf beranek]

I gave the pickup to a friend who ended up selling it to someone else. WTF I thought I was helping the guy out. Oh, well.

That little Ford Ranger (1992) got 26 MPG on the highway. About 20 around town. So I commandeered Terri's Rav 4. It's a 2012 and it gets less gas mileage than the Ranger did. I figured it would be better gas mileage, but not.

We're going up to Jed Smith again this weekend, and will be up there for a week. It's supposed to rain. So maybe we'll come back early.

The final book, JSRSP, is nearing a close. I'll send the page files off to the printer after the first. Figure, by March it should be available to the masses. That will complete the series of the northern redwoods parks.

All together the four books, Navarro, HRSP, PCRSP, and JSRSP will add up to 672 pages. Contain over 2,000 images, 20 aerial maps with graphical overlays, and complete trail descriptions. Included is the story of Save the Redwoods and the many benefactors that ponied up the money to buy all the groves. Let along the trivial facts and regional natural history of the redwoods northern habitat.

After that I'll start working on marketing the series.

 

[mdvaden]

There's at least a 50% chance I may, or can be around Jedediah Smith park, about the same time. I want to take care of about 2 more hours of high school senior photos for one of the two sisters too, but when that happens is not etched in stone.

Maybe I'll email you for your cell numbers just in case we can cross paths. It would be a pleasure to enjoy some forest with you and Terri.

 

[gf beranek]

Got cha,

 

[mdvaden]

Got cha,

Last week, in some second hand store, I noticed a metal hard hat almost identical to this one you wore that day in Jedediah Smith park.

Photo Credit: G. F. Beranek

 

[gf beranek]

She's a beauty, Mario! Though there sure were a lot more ferns around the tree back then. August 2008. Terri and I went back a couple times in the years since, and noticed the wear and tear mounting. Shame. I think the impacts are greater from the groups that go there more over the lone visitor.

I've never taken anybody else there, as it should remain a clandestine grove, I feel.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[mdvaden]

Here one from yesterday, enjoying some forest with Gerald and Terri in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

 

[mdvaden]

Another waterfall, feeding-into the Smith River, along Hy. 199, east of Jedediah Smith redwood park. This will probably be used for a 20 x 30 print or canvas.

 

[gf beranek]

Yeah, that's a nice one, too, Mario. Pullouts along highway 199 are scant and few, and in-between pullouts there's barely any shoulder to stand on that can provide a sense of safety from getting run over.

There's so many places I wanted to stop and take pictures over the years, but just too afraid to.

You have bigger Kohonnies than I do.