Avenue of the Giants

We took the slow route to and from Santa Rosa last week so that we could spend time walking the Avenue of the Giants in Northwest California because both of us love walking there. I also hoped that my new wide-angle lens would help me to convey that love of the Redwoods visually.

Even with a 17mm wide-angle lens it was necessary to stitch several photos together to capture the height of these Pacific Coast Redwoods, and these were younger trees, not the fabled Giants that gave these groves their names. Even stitching doesn’t allow you to show the actual height because of the foreshortening of the camera.

Redwood

Hopefully having to scroll compensates somewhat for the foreshortening.

Like any old-growth forest, part of the experience are the giant trees laying on the ground, as shown above. Equally important, though, are the spaces where ferns rush to fill in after a redwood has fallen.

Roots of Fallen Redwood with Ferns Growing

ensuring that everywhere is green.

Though I’ll go on trying to capture the essence of these fabulous redwoods, I doubt it’s really possible to capture the beauty that has to be experienced firsthand. Only the human eye seems capable of capturing the subtle beauty of this place. Even my expensive digital camera can’t capture the full range of lights and darks that help to create it’s cathedral-like beauty.

Sunlight filtering through Redwood Canopy

5 thoughts on “Avenue of the Giants”

  1. I love these redwood photos, loren. I feel as if I am in the presence of the redwoods again. Thanks so much!

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