Since John Muir Woods is so magical and so close to where I live, it tends
to be one of the places I go just to practice my photography. As a result,
I have many fantastic pictures of Muir Woods. This is another one of my
favorites. It was a cool windy day and we dropped down in to the valley
where Muir Woods is hidden and the wind stopped and it was just this calm
peaceful place. You could see the tops of the redwoods swaying in the wind
but down below, there was hardly a breeze. As you round one of the last
turns of the 1.2 mile walk around the loop you come to this place just
before getting back to the first bridge of 4 bridges across the creek.
It's a perfect picture of a walk in the park. The trail is very and paved
or a boardwalk the entire walk. If you want to take a slightly more
rigorous trail you can go up the hill a bit at the very far end. However
will have to double back or miss a fair amount of the loop. For photography
three things are essential. 1) A tripod. Even during mid day it can be
dimly lit down under the canopy. 2) A Circular Polarizer filter. This
really enhances the greens and blues. It also slows down your shutter time
so you need item #1 even more. 3) Lastly you need a great deal of
patience. Many people will stop right in front of your camera preventing
you from getting the shot. One way I have gotten around this is to take a
shot with them in it, then wait for them to move slightly and take another
while on the tripod. When I get home, I can copy from one to the other.
The one drawback is that during mid day, just a few minutes can change the
position of the shadows making this method impossible. In this image
however, the trail was clear for a few moments and I was able to snap off
several good shots. This is my selection of those shots. Always be sure
to take more than one shot and adjust the exposure to make sure you get it
right. You'll hate yourself if you get home and you realize only then you
missed it.
-Darv
LiquidMoonlight.com
© Darvin Atkeson
