Driving down the scenic Hwy. 101 between the north and south parts of Redwood National Park. There seems to be fog here most of the time, so why not just go with it. There is some color, but it's so muted by the fog, I decided to process the shot in black and white.
For some reason, the park strikes me as a bit odd. Instead of the usual rather rectangular format with a couple of key spots to visit, the park runs for 40 miles (64 kilometers) along the Pacific coast. Most of the time, the coast is spewing fog into the redwood forest, and that keeps the weather moist and cool, which is the climate that the giant redwood trees seem to love.
Highway 101 runs the length of the park, which is jointly run by the state of California. Don't worry, though, your National Park pass works for the few entrances where a fee is required. There are lots of turnoffs along the road where you can enter hiking trails, or simply stop to take a photo, like I did here. There is a scenic route that deviates through the forest off Hwy. 101. Be sure you take that for the best foggy vistas.
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As far as hiking goes, there are two that we liked. One you have to drive down eight miles along a very bumpy dirt road called the Davison Road to get to Fern Canyon. There you will get a short up and down trek through, as the name suggests, a canyon dripping with water and ferns. Depending on the recent weather, you might want to bring water shoes to make the occasional stream ford.
The other is the Coast Path. That's four miles up the coast, and then four miles back along the same path to your car. A lot of up and down on that one. An alternative is to take the car up the Requa Road and then take a half mile walk down the hillside to get a stunning view of the mouth of the Klamath river as it empties into the foggy gray Pacific.
You can see a list here of all the United States National Parks, with links to our stories about the ones we've visited.
Tom, I love a good foggy shot. There’s a small pond on my way to work. Many mornings it has fog sitting on it, and I keep trying to motivate myself on a weekend morning to go shoot it. Maybe I will…one day.
Or just get up a little earlier on a work day. I love to shoot in fog. One of my favorite pics from my younger days was a fog shot on a Florida island. Unfortunately, that was where I also learned to underexpose fog shots. Your light meter lies.
I do agree that this shot looks better in black and white instead of its normal color. I don’t know, I just think fog and trees works best in black and white.. it’s more dramatic and mysterious. I love your shot.
Thanks, Sofia. In the fog there wasn’t much color anyway. So, why fight it?