Big Basin Redwoods

The photography club held a shoot-out at
Big Basin Redwood Park.

The trees in this park are not the Giant Sequoias I visited last June, (see "Coastal Excursion blog"), but they have their own special charm, namely form and texture.

With most hikes through a redwood forest, the compelling view is up, but in this park the scenery at ground level was much more intriguing. Many of the trees had texture that was far more compelling than their height.

Some can only be described as "gnarly."

Of course, I did look up once in awhile. For this shot, I stepped over the fence, leaned into the tree, and shot straight up.

And for this one, I took three shots and
stitched them together into a vertical panorama.
Notice how the tree twists as it stretches up.

These were my intrepid trekking companions.You can see more of my photos from this shoot-out
(and those of others) on the club's Flickr Shoot-out site:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/mhphotoclubshoot-outs/