Muir Woods, California US

Muir Woods is a Redwood grove 30 minutes North of San Francisco, California.  You will have the thrill of driving a serpentine road that keeps you and the car busy.  The drive is fun and when you arrive, the trees will be a religious experience.

Although these coastal redwoods are not as large as the Sequoia's further North, they are taller, reaching 370 feet (30 stories) and are up to 20 feet in diameter.  Trails near the park entrance are paved and accessible by all, and you will get to see the largest trees.  The upper trails are dirt and are well maintained.  These are day-hike trails with easy-to-moderate climbs.  Expect rain. 


These photos were taken in the Spring, 2014, along the Ocean View Trail.  Leaving the Visitor's Center, the trail loops up into the forest for 5 miles.  It will take about 2 hours.  On this morning it was a thin overcast with a soft, warm light.   

Ocean View Trail, Redwood Grove.  Click for larger view.

This is a moderately-processed HDR (High Dynamic Range), taken with a grey-card, a tripod, no polarizer, and was taken with a 38mm APC stock zoom lens. 

Of the five exposures that make up the photo, the center frame was taken at f8, 1/8", 1600 ISO, with no exposure compensation; the outlying frames were +/- 2 stops.  Details on HDR photo techniques are found in the links below.

In post-processing, I was surprised to see the camera's ISO setting at 1600.  At the time, I had manually set ISO 200 and did not notice the shift.  The problem?  On the Nikon D5100, there turns out to be two controls:  The (manual) ISO and an "Auto ISO Sensitivity Control".  Within specified ranges, auto-control overrides manual settings.  My camera's auto-sensitivity range was set to a maximum ISO of 1600 and a minimum shutter of 1/30. 

Since a tripod must be used for HDR shots, I now set the Auto speeds to a slower, narrower range or ISO 800 and 1/4".  -- I never want to see ISO 1600 in a landscape photo!

There are admitted benefits to Auto ISO, especially without a tripod.  If the shutter falls too low, the camera can sneak the ISO and compensate.  This can save mistakes when not paying attention to shutter speeds.  Trouble is, I don't like to be surprised.  Some photographers use Auto-ISO with glee -- allowing it to stray where ever it likes in order to meet aperture and shutter settings.  I am slowing becoming a proponent of this idea.

Also on the trail, I found a small pine stand a few hundred yards north of the grove, apparently damaged by lightning.  It is hard to believe anything could burn in this forest, given the dampness.

Related Articles:
Using an 18% Grey Card
HDR Photo Techniques
Newport Bay Bridge - HDR