Redwood Forest – Vision
Redwood Forest – Vision, by Suprada on Flickr.
Redwood Forest – Vision, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California North Coast.
A multitude of trees, very tall trees. Ferns and redwood sorrel everywhere. Creeks meandering bout these trees. The silence of the forest, and then mosquitoes buzzing in your ear…..The redwood forest feels very different in summer than in winter. No fog, no rain, no playing hide and seek with the curious visitor. No lush dripping ferns and no “squish” with every step.
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1.5 sec at f/8.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 8.22 am, July 29, 2007
Redwood Forest Impressions
Redwood Forest Impressions, by Suprada on Flickr.
Redwood Forest Impressions, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California.
From “Wild Trees” by Richard Preston, “The trees had stony-gray bark. They looked like columns on a ruined temple. The ground was made up of rotting redwood needles, and it was covered with sword ferns – tall, stiff ferns-growing chest high. Everywhere there were spatters of redwood sorrel – small emerald-green plants with heart shaped leaves.”
The redwood forests in the north coast of California, like the one where I went, leave an impression on anybody who sees them. I thought I was transported to Lothlorien, in Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Tall tall redwood trees, green every where…life everywhere, silent and beautiful beyond words. This photo here is an impression of what I felt…
The redwoods grow in the valleys and mountains of California, within about 10 miles from the sea. They grow and reach enormous sizes in these temperate rain forests due to the mild rainy climate along the North California coast. With almost 80 inches of rain per year, they thrive. The redwoods do not like the salt air from the sea, but they flourish in fog. The temperature in these forests is moist and cool and even, with no extreme variations. “The natural range of the coast redwoods begins at a creek in Big Sur that flows down a mountain called Mount Mars. From there, the redwoods run up the California coast in a broken ribbon, continuiung to just inside Oregon. Fourteen miles up the Oregon coast, in the valley of the Chetco River, the redwoods stop”.
Today less than 5% of the original redwood forests remain.
I must add a note saying this photo is almost as-is out of the camera. I pulled it out, did “auto everything” in Lightroom, resized it, added the border and copyright notice. I would love to hear what you have to say this photo evokes in you…
Technical Data:
Exposure: 1.0 sec at f/8.0
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 200
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II
Camera: Canon Rebel XT (350D)
Time: 8.26 am, July 29, 2007
Sunrise Time: Inside a redwood forest? Who knows?
Don’t mess with me!
Don’t mess with me!, by Suprada on Flickr.
Hampi, India.
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1/60 sec at f/5.6
Focal Length: 77mm
ISO: 100
WB: Auto
Lens: Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 6.30 PM
Bowling Ball Beach – 4
Bowling Ball Beach – 4, by Suprada on Flickr.
Bowling Ball Beach, California.
I converted this image to black and white to enhance the eerie effect of these boulders with algae and sea plants growing on them. These boulders are generally completely immersed in water except at low tide.
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1/3 sec at f/8.0
Focal Length: 10mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Sigma 10-20mm
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 6:28 am
Swirling Clouds
Swirling Clouds, by Suprada on Flickr.
Swirling Clouds, Redwood National Park, California
Rainy clouds swirling down a valley. What was once trees and forests and valleys now become a dream of white gauze and graphic shapes…What once had colour become black and white…
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1/60sec at f / 5.0
Focal Length: 58mm
ISO: 100
WB: auto
Lens: Sigma 18-125mm f3.5-5.6
Camera: Canon Digital Rebel XT
Time: 12:59 PM, Nov 26, 2006
Redwoods in the rain
Redwoods in the rain, by Suprada on Flickr.
Redwoods in the rain, Redwood National Park, California.
Back in November of 2006, I convinced a couple of friends to join me on a quick trip to Redwood National Park, some 8.5 hrs from the Bay area. We stayed at the youth hostel in the national park. We were there for one sunny day and one rainy day…we were lucky to have the sunny day!
As much as the rain is inconvenient for us tourists, I must confess I fell in love with the redwoods in the rain. The whole place is ethereal, soft and lush. It’s like being in a dream. The forest smells of rain and damp mud…it smells of life. The tall redwoods reaching beyond the rain and mist for a taste of the sun…And the pretty ferns. It was as if I was in a dreamscape!
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1/2 sec at f/8.0
Focal Length: 38mm
ISO: 100
WB: auto
Lens: Sigma 18-125
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 1:56 PM
Conditions: Wet, wet, wet!
Bowling Ball Beach – 3
Bowling Ball Beach – 3, by Suprada on Flickr.
Bowling Ball Beach – 3
In this photo, I tried to get closer to the rocks and tried to have a part of what looks like a luscious green meadow in the picture. In the far background, one can see the tents of campers and the volleyball net they had setup. Since the main focus (hopefully) of this photo again, are the rocks, the photo ended up being on the dark side (of the force!)
Now and again, I realize how hard my chosen “hobby” is…How difficult is it to come up with different views of the same place as caught on camera? Unbelievably difficult!
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1/8 sec at f /16
Focal Length: 100mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon 70-100 USM IS Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS USM
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 7.30 AM
Bowling Ball Beach -2
Bowling Ball Beach -2 , by Suprada on Flickr.
Bowling Ball Beach, California
“One of the trippiest beaches on the Northern California coast” says some website (I do not remember which one) when talking about Bowling Ball Beach. Its quite a cool beach. There is no sign on the highway as to theres something like this at the beach. Its just a turnout, where we park carefully, facing south. Then a 100 yard walk to the edge of a cliff. A muddy path down to the beach. The last part of the descent into the beach has been washed off…And its quite something to try to get down in the dark with a lot of equipment on your back… Once down, need to navigate over large pieces of strategically placed driftwood onto the beach…Then walk on the beach, northwards, hoping to find these rocks…..
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1/30sec at f/5.6
Focal Length: 10mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Sigma 10-20mm (borrowed)
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 6.51 AM
Bowling Ball Beach – 1
Bowling Ball Beach – 1, by Suprada on Flickr.
Bowling Ball Beach, California.
Large boulders which look like bowling balls due to the constant water smoothing them have left grooves on the stone which they lie on. These “bowling balls” are covered by water normally and are visible only during low tide.
Technical Details
Exposure: 1/45 s at f/5.6
Focal Length: 70mm
ISO: 100
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon 70-300mm IS f4.5 – 5.6
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 7.27 AM
Belly Dancing in a crowded restaurant
Belly Dancing in a crowded restaurant, by Suprada on Flickr.
Belly Dancing in a crowded restaurant, San Francisco
This was the first time I saw a male and a female belly dancer perform. I must say it was mind blowing. The whole crowd was clapping and cheering along.
Thanks for your comments Nelcha, Prashanth, Vikas, Vid! I’m leaving comments in reply 
Technical Details
Exposure: 1/30sec at f / 1.8 (Had to use the lens wide open for indoor light. Accounts for the extremely shallow depth of field)
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400 – (Shooting indoors)
Flash: Did fire (Couldn’t have seen anything without Flash)
Lens: Canon 50mm f / 1.8
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 9:08 PM
Date: April 7, 2007
Gogol, the Babushka
Gogol, the Babushka, by Suprada on Flickr.
Gogol.
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1/45sec at f/1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
ISO: 400
WB: Daylight
Lens: Canon 50mm f 1.8
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 7.51 PM
Date: July 10, 2007
Dancer
Dancer, by Suprada on Flickr.
Dancer, Kan Zaman, San Francisco
Belly dancer in a restaurant in San Francisco. A packed place on Saturday night on Haight Street in SFO. I must say I like this restaurant quite a bit. They have very good food and their hot spiced wine is out of the world!
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1/40 sec at f1.8
Focal Length: 50mm
WB: auto
ISO: 800
Flash: Did fire
Lens: Canon 50mm f1.8
Camera: Canon Rebel XT
Time: 10.51 PM
Devil’s Postpile NM
Devil’s Postpile NM, by Suprada on Flickr.
Devil’s Postpile National Monument, California.
Devil’s Postpile is one of the finest examples of columnar basalt in the world. Quoting from the National Park Services website, “Approximately 100,000 years ago, a lava flow erupted two miles upstream from the location of today’s Monument. As it flowed down the Valley, it eventually ran into an obstruction which served as a dam to the lava’s path. Pooling up to as deep as 400 feet behind the natural dam, the lava cooled. Conditions were such that the lava–that was incredibly uniform in its mineral composition–cooled at a very slow rate. As it cooled, it contracted and cracked, forming hexagonal columns. 80,000 years later, a glacier flowed through the same valley, overriding the formation and eventually revealing the sides and tops of the columns. Glacial polish can still be seen today at the top of the formation.”
Technical Details:
Exposure: 1/15sec at f 8.0
Focal Length: 109mm
ISO: 200
WB: Daylight
Lens: Sigma 18.0-125.0 mm f3.5-5.6 DC
Time: 7:14 am
Camera: Canon Rebel XT