It’s been hot here in California, they are temperatures I am used to, but I have never experienced them in September before. It really doesn’t seem fair that I come all this way and it is so hot. I suppose it is better than having lots and lots of rain while I was here,. So today with the temperatures set to soar again it was decided that we would go to the redwood forests in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the Henry Cowell Redwoods.
They are big, as you can see here, and some are over 2000 years old. I did this image with the cottage so you could see how big they were.
We went there to go hiking through it and just look around. It was so incredible. It was another place where everywhere you looked you were saying ‘oh wow’.
Places like this can be incredibly hard to photograph. How do you take photos that will be interesting? You don’t just want lots of trees there. I tried to find things that would make them more so by looking for things like paths that ran through the trees.
Or by looking for the light and how it caught the trees or went through them. Initially we didn’t get a lot of light, but slowly the sun started breaking through.
They really are so amazing. I’ve never really seen anything like them before. I am so glad we went to see them. I went with my sister in law and two of her friends, and I promised them I would do a post to show them how the photos came out. I’m afraid there are quite a few, I hope you don’t mind.
I am just going to put the selection I have for you into a gallery now. Don’t forget you can click on any of them to see them larger.
These are great photographs to show the vastness of these redwood trees! We’ve been here a few times, and it still feels amazing to see their massive size.
Your sister in law will be proud of your photos!
Thank you Esther, vastness is a good way to describe them. I think she liked the photos.
You’re welcome! I’m glad you liked that word. Speaking of redwoods, I need to revisit that park soon. It’s a great place to walk around and marvel at the trees and the sunlight beaming through the branches and leaves.
Yes, you do need to go back and walk around. I envy you.
Maybe this summer!
😁😁
WOW! For me this is wabi Sabi in the forest… Beautiful dear Leanne, Thank you, Love, nia
I like that, thank you Nia.
So many good ones here!!
I agree, sometimes photographing my walks in the woods can be a challenge, at least for me. I’ll happen upon a spot where the light is absolutely lovely but struggle, somehow, to capture it.
As my husband likes to tease me, “it’s just more trees; they all look the same.” I don’t quite agree but I somehow get the point he’s trying to make!
Thank you Julie.
They can be so hard working out what will work and what won’t. I often find you capture something because it looks great, but then on the computer it doesn’t. So frustrating.
I wouldn’t agree with your husband either, lol. Maybe it takes more of a creative eye than what he has, I don’t know.
I long to see them up close
I hope you get to Beth, they are incredible.
Gorgeous!
Thanks Egidio.
Thanks for taking me back to the redwoods Leanne.
YOu’re welcome Anne.
Very nice pictures. The trees are indeed impressive. These were my old stomping grounds. (I lived in San Jose.) When were you there? In August 2020, the extreme heat contributed to massive thunderstorms and historic lightning storms throughout coastal and northern California. Part of Henry Cowell burned, though not as badly as elsewhere. The rest of the Santa Cruz Mountains were completely devastated, including the homes of friends, and my favorite, Big Basin, which was/is the largest old-growth redwood forest still in existence. Your pictures are beautiful and do justice to the magnificence of these forests.
I was staying with family in San Jose. Oh no that is terrible to hear about the fires. Thank you so much Joanne, that is really nice to hear.