Avenue of the Giants Photo

Photographer’s Note

Do take the exit off 101 for the Avenue of the Giants; it is a 31-mile portion of old Highway 101, which parallels Freeway 101 with its 51,222 acres of redwood groves. Some say it is the most outstanding display of these giant trees in the entire 500 mile redwood belt. The Avenue of the Giants is surrounded by Humboldt Redwoods State Park which has the largest remaining stand of virgin redwoods in the world. You can picnic, camp, hike, swim, fish, raft or bike ride in the cool hush of these ancient redwood forests. For more details, follow this link

Agter our lovely wine country meal on the previous day, we spent the night in Garberville, infamous in the early 70's for its marijuana growing. As you can see, even though spring was fading in Napa/Sonoma, further north, the spring rhododendrons are still blooming.

gervaso, feather, baba_flies, danos, portmanndominic, xuaxo, ktanska, JCG, denisn72, pablominto, Angshu, gunbud, paura, avene, jwmunro, josepmarin, CapturedByGrace, emjleclercq has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

gervaso (5788) 2009-09-19 22:12

Hello, Pat!

Wonderful tones of green! The trees are wonderful, with excellent sharpness! Composition is just great! Wonderful job!

feather (50560) 2009-09-20 2:17

It is very difficult to show off these giant trees as they really are. You made the right choice not to try and get in the full height, as it is almost impossible. What does help is comparing the width of the road to the girth of the trees. I love the dappled light; another difficult thing to manage that you pulled off. Well done
Kath

baba_flies (8191) 2009-09-20 2:45

Hello Pat! I can SMELL the woods, there is nothing more nice in your nose than a dose of fresh forest. Very nice how you included the street with the little bit of sun light that comes through the thick tree layer, very attractive and very much how I have it in mind. We did the same road but this is now some years ago. Your wine meal sounds great, yes all these treats that make life special. Great shot, I like it a lot. Have a wonderful Sunday, Barbara.

PS. I am glad that you liked my link to Hannes Schmid's website. We have seen the film he made on the speed record they tried to break. It never came to the movies so far due to legal problems but I still hope it will some day. We have seen the film premiere but this is how far it came and therefore it is only a few that ever got to see it in movie format.

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TravelerNL (2971) 2009-09-20 3:29

Hi Pat,
Vey nice view in the forest. Well composed with the curvey road and the light falling in through the trees.
Well saturated colors.
I like how you decided not to include the entire trees but focus more on the lower part and what is visible there.
Thanks for sharing,
Harko

john1 (2583) 2009-09-20 3:42

Hello Pat,

Excellent composition with the trees, redwood details are great here. Good light and perspective view of the street. Amazing colors and sharpness.
Great shot.
Have a good sunday.
John

danos (33730) 2009-09-20 11:47

Hi Pat,
really this shot reminds giants to stand on both sides of the road,and the falling light to be so well managed.I like to see these very tall trees to cover the scene as the sky too.Well done.

Have a nice week,Danos

gneufeld (15289) 2009-09-20 14:11

HI Pat,
I really like your take on the giant redwoods. I've been there and never yet found a way to photograph them well. I like the roadway leading though the image and the simple light adds perfect depth and place. TFS. Gerald

portmanndominic (2390) 2009-09-21 7:15

Bonsoir Pat

sometimes i'ts very difficult to make picture in a forest , due to the differents lights
you make a very beautiful picture with the road who give us the move , manage of the colors contrast and lights
very good ;-)
TFS
have a good week
Dominic

xuaxo (5911) 2009-09-21 11:38

Olá Pat,
Everything is beautiful in this picture, the color, the ligh, the composition, the trees, even the road. And the road (a normal one, of course) gives a scale to realize how big the redwoods are.
SAA,
F.

ktanska (16743) 2009-09-22 3:27

Hi Pat,
It's difficult to get exposure right in forests, as there's so much contrast. You do well here, those sunlit trunks look nice next to darker areas. Very special place, trees are so much bigger than what can be found in Europe.
Kari

BilboCA (734) 2009-09-22 6:53

Hi, Pat,

Most of the previous critiques covered the main observations I can offer about this nicely executed photo.
(1) The strong contrasts in this scene make executing a clean shot quite a challenge and you've managed the light nicely so that the color rendering is true and the illumination level feels quite honest, too.
(2) You've framed the photo in a way that presents the viewer with what she would most commonly be looking at if present there with you. We would try to gaze up at the top of the trees, but mostly we would marvel at the scale of the trunks, the close packing of the trees, and the marvelous light and shade.
(3) The inclusion of the road and the lavender rhododendron makes for nice accents in the scene dominated by trees. Personally, I probably would have given these more emphasis in the frame (the rhododendron had escaped my initial notice and I didn't see it until I read your note), but I certainly can't fault your choices.

Regards,
- William

JCG (25875) 2009-09-22 10:32

Hello Pat,

We are ridiculous with our poor plane trees at the edge of the roads in France !!! Pretty catch of sight on this shaded road where the diffuse light creates a pleasant relief. I like much the harmony of the colors. Thank you Pat for interesting Internet link.

With all my friendships and with soon,

Jean-Charles

denisn72 (7093) 2009-09-22 17:44

HI Pat!
The road seems so small among those giant trees. Great point of view showing the curved road in the foreground. Strong and impressive contrasts and well saturated colours. A great name for this Avenue!
Best regards
Denis!

Waylim (11339) 2009-09-22 23:19

Hi Pat,
That sure is a lovely drive up there, through the canopy of redwood. So dense, green and so tall, reaching to the sky. Lovely and inviting composition here with the curve of the highway leading in. Very strong contrast and light. The green is well saturated, so refreshing and vivid. Just beautiful.
Thanks Pat. Have a good day.
Way

pablominto (41690) 2009-09-22 23:35

Hello Pat,

Interesting play of light, deep down on the forest floor!
Those giants are among the largest and oldest living objects on this globe, and the image gives a fine impression of the scenery...
A lovely composition, in a site where the road makes a strange contrast!

Greetings,
Pablo -

Angshu (34243) 2009-09-23 0:35

Hello Pat
What I love here is the dappled light...it's so nice always to see with our eyes, but difficult to translate it into a good photograph...here you've done just that! Love the light on the road & the trees & also the thin slices of blue through the mesh of green!
Best regards
Angshu

s_lush (2746) 2009-09-25 3:03

Hello Pat,
This avenue looks very spectacularly due to the perfect composition and light management. The bright spots make this shadowy alley looking beautifully. Perfect camera settings! Absolutely artistic work!
Best regards,
Sergiy

gunbud (28295) 2009-09-25 20:08

Hi Pat,
Looks like you would not need much sunscreen here.
Love the rich shadow work on this winding road.
Wonderful tricks of this filtering light on the emerald canopy.
One of these days I got to get out to your neck of the woods.
Regards, Tom

paura (39608) 2009-09-26 6:23

Pat,
A photograph quite interesting about the giant vegetables.
The road appears to be little pieces around them. Very nice shot!

Warm regards

Paulo

Dyerco (9396) 2009-10-02 20:09

Hi pat
A good well exposed shot of this place. I like how you included the curving road to bring the eye into the shot. I have been here. It's a marvellous place. Have you visited Ferndale. A delightful little town that has retained its old fashioned character and kept out the chain stores.
Cheers
Phil

avene (11242) 2009-10-17 11:55

hi Pat,
I missed this photo when you posted it, but I'm happy I found it now, the light is pure magic here, it seems to flow along the road. the trees are literally shimmering, this must've been a fantastic place to drive through.

best,
Kristine

pajaran (4320) 2009-11-04 3:41

Pozdrav iz danas suncane Cuprije.
Stabla koja svojom lepotom i velicinom deluju fantastico, odlicna fotografija.
Puno uspeha, Paja.

jwmunro (6279) 2009-11-04 18:16

Hell Pat -

"Avenue of the Giants" one tough street to take a picture on! With that said you have captured the essence of the avenue with the curving old highway. I really think this is the way to see it with the dappled light and the road. Would a vehicle or bicycle have made it any better. I am thinking yes, but that is just me. Here the focus is on the avenue with the trees as extras in the scene. Well done and very inventive.

Thank you for sharing.

John

josepmarin (34269) 2009-11-05 3:20

Hi Pat,
I like the sunlight that passes across the huge trees, really a few giants, and the nice game of lights and shades that offers us in this forest.
The curve of the road with a good perspective that takes our eyes towards an unknown horizon, is another great element of your composition.
A beautiful work, my friend.
HLJ,
Josep

CapturedByGrace (72) 2009-12-28 23:28

Awesome. Looks like a very nice place to visit. Great shot.

emjleclercq (14632) 2010-01-03 13:43

Very nice effect of the light playing with the trees, and happy vivid colors.

All the best,

Emmanuel