Muir Woods National Monument

Into the Belly of the Beast

December 21, 2014

Muir Woods has been my biggest challenge as a photographer.  There is an endless array of great pictures to be taken there, but each and every one is also a challenge.  The lighting is difficult.  The subject matter can easily go flat with the wrong angle or foreground and background intrusions.  It's a crowded, noisy environment for an outdoor hike in the woods.

Fort Point, San Francisco, CA

The trip started off with a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge.  I don't know if was the break in the weather or the fact that it's the holidays, but the tourists were out in hordes on the bridge.  Seeing that, I knew it was going to be crowded at Muir Woods and was reminded of my vow to never go there unless it's actually raining.  I had already settled on the trip, though, so I stuck with it.

Have you ever seen a more inviting set of outdoor stairs? -- Muir Woods National Monument, CA

Parking was the first challenge.  Holy mackerel, I've been to Muir Woods when it's busy but this was a whole other level.  The parking lots were full (of course) but the street parking was completely packed as well for at least a mile down the road.  Nobody was leaving, either.  I lucked out by checking with the ranger guarding the main parking lot entrance and he said I'd lucked out because somebody had just left.  Sure enough, I was able to get a spot near the entrance.  It was my first victory of the day.

Muir Woods National Monument, CA

Muir Woods is small for a national monument.  It's in a small valley.  Perhaps it's a canyon?  Redwood Creek runs through the middle of it.  There are trails on both sides of the creek.  The entire hike back and in can be easily done in an hour, I'm sure.  I always take a lot longer, but that's because I stop a lot for pictures.  As a hint, if you end up here on a busy day and want to get to less crowded areas hike the hillside trails.  They are equally interesting and far less crowded.

Redwood Creek, Muir Woods National Monument, CA

On my trip up to Olympic National Park a month ago I got a feel for what the TV setting could do on my camera.  That setting allows me to set the shutter speed while the camera takes care of the aperture and ISO.  What I found on that trip was that I was able to draw out a lot more color than if used the landscape setting.  Most of these photos were taken with shutter speeds ranging from 1/25 to 1/2 a second.  I had to haul around my tripod to shoot that slowly, but I've been using it a lot more anyway.  My wide angle lens seems much happier when it's mounted on its aluminum legs than when its in my hand.

Redwood Creek, Muir Woods National Monument, CA

I also took a lot of shots using the HDR feature, but I canned most of those.  The colors came out too muted, although there was often some nice detail that didn't come through with the slow shutter speeds.

Muir Woods National Monument, CA

I wasn't getting a lot of the reddish-brown color often seen in redwoods.  The sun broke through briefly and lit up a few trees.  It didn't last long, though.  Muir Woods is always dark, but on this day, the shortest day of the year with the sun angled to provide the least amount of light possible and adding to that a layer of slowly moving clouds and encroaching fog, the Woods were particularly dark.  Add to that the fact that everything was still wet from the recent rains and, well, there just wasn't a whole lot of red to be had.

Muir Woods National Monument, CA

I don't know, I think this is probably my best set of pictures from Muir Woods.  Time will tell if these photos hold my interest or just turn into a bunch of boring pictures of trees.  I still feel like I lost more than I won here, but I'm starting to learn how to work the light a little better.  I'll probably give this place another crack in a year or so to see if I've made any improvement.

Muir Woods National Monument, CA

Muir Woods National Monument, CA

Muir Woods National Monument, CA