Redwoods Highway with Nicole Vaunt (Patreon)

I get asked all the time what my favorite part of the country is, and there is a very real and certain impossibility in trying to choose just one place.  This country is too vast, and too differing in landscape for that task, but the Redwoods Highway is definitely in my top 10.  I've made sure to stop in Redwoods every trip since I first went there unfortunately without Nicole.  When we decided that we were going to do a trip like we used to I had visions of shooting her in the Redwoods, and knew we had to make it back there.

Our first stop was Trinidad Cove, an absolutely beautiful beach a couple hours south of Redwoods state park.  I shot a few landscapes at sunset there of a small sea arch, and some rock formations out further in the water.  When I shoot landscapes I'm almost always using my 17-40mm F4 L, and this evening was no exception.  I try to shoot the longest exposure I can, so most of these were shot at F22 with a B&W brand Circular Polarizer.  The polarizer not only cuts the light allowing for a longer exposure, but can be used to remove specular highlights on the waters surface.  I tend not to use it to remove the highlights too much as it makes the water considerably darker and murkier than the sky creating a much more vast dynamic range of the scene.  For me this is not a good thing.  I don't do HDR, so we are trying to compress dynamic range, not make it a larger difference.

After it was too dark to keep shooting we hiked back to the car, and drove to our KOA just north of Crescent City.  We got in and set up around 2am.  We were up at 4:30am for sunrise.  It wasn't enough sleep.  We were all in bad moods.  Many an angry word was exchanged when we realized there was no coffee available at 5am in Crescent City.  As soon as we hit the black sand beach south of El Norte that incredibly pissed off cloud fueled by sleep deprivation lifted, and we were back in our happy place.  Intense fog was everywhere, the ocean was rolling in and we got to work.

My buddy Steven (thisnormallife on IG) went off to shoot landscapes, while Nicole and I crossed a small stream, and shot nudes on the beautiful rocks and black sand.  Our favorite spot had a pretty unfortunate massive dead seal 10 feet away from it, which didn't make for the loveliest aroma while we shot, but fortunately you can't smell a photo, so for all any viewer will ever know this area smelled just like a beautiful ocean.  After shooting for a couple of minutes a few other people showed up to catch post sunrise, so we called it packed up and hiked up into the trees.

Higher up in altitude the fog bank was still very very thick.  Nicole and I scouted a few of the larger Redwoods and found an awesome spot where she could climb one.  It was freezing so we shot probably 10-15 frames before she was shivering so much that we had to stop, but I knew we had it.  An image even better than I had imagined.  Intense fog, big trees, and a green so perfect that it looked like a fairy tale.

I hope you all enjoy this series, as this is one of my greatest passions.  Collaborating with Nicole in nature keeps us both motivated and thrilled.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/udsjmroeciidblb/AABs7PxNBcl77OC69WOE9lwka?dl=0