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?
