Trees and Woodland

Compelling compositions and interesting details of trees and woodland scenes.

Yolo County Almond Orchard Reflection Monochrome
Almond blossom season seems to have come a little later than usual in the Central Valley due to heavy precipitation and cold temperatures. During a break in our winter storms, I ran out the door before sunset to capture some of these beauties before the winter rains pummeled the delicate blossoms. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Family Is What You Make It
During a wet and heavy snowfall in Yosemite Valley, this quirky family of expressive trees of different species isolated by the dense fog drew my attention, and made me think of the popular phrase, “family is what you make it”. These trees clearly are having a good time just playing in the snow together and thoroughly enjoying each other’s company! https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Frosty Trees in Winter Fog on Cathedral Rocks
Fog and mist swirled around Yosemite's majestic granite peaks the morning after a dusting of fresh snow providing a mood of ethereal drama that is my favorite to photograph. The pine trees on the vertical slope of Cathedral Rocks resembled a black and white pencil sketch that I was inspired to capture in a series of long focal length images. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Frosty Winter Trees in Morning Light
Yosemite Valley is magical the morning after a dusting of new snow and brought out the textures of these trees illuminated by the morning sun as dark, dense fog built up in the parks shaded granite walls. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Thickening Fog, Cascade Creek
On a wet winter day in Yosemite, thick swirling fog throughout the park along water tributaries and tree lines would intermittently build up along this scene of Cascade Creek in the golden sunlight of the afternoon. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Winter Tree Textures, El Capitan Drive
The bridge spanning the Merced River on El Capitan Drive provides a beautiful view of Mother Nature’s reflections at the base of Cathedral Rocks. A light dusting of snow and a touch of fog caused by a holiday season atmospheric river event accentuated the delicate textures of the tree branches. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
El Capitan Meadow Winter Fog
On a wet winter afternoon in Yosemite, thick swirling fog and mist could be found throughout the park along water tributaries and tree lines, and provided an ethereal quality to the trees at the base of Cathedral Rocks. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Ahwahnee Meadow Winter Fog & Snowfall
On a wet winter afternoon in Yosemite, thick swirling fog and mist could be found throughout the park along water tributaries and tree lines, and provided an ethereal quality to the trees found within Ahwahnee Meadow. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Framed View, Fanal Forest
Madeira’s Fanal forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is known for it’s ancient laurel forest, some of the trees as old as 500 years. Once covering southern Europe, these trees can now only be found on the island of Madeira, the Canary Islands and parts of southern Portugal. Fanal is well known for an almost constant presence of fog, which we were lucky to experience here on our first visit to create a further sense of mystery to these trees. By the following day however, all was bright and sunny. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Madeira’s Fanal forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is known for it’s ancient laurel forest, some of the trees as old as 500 years. Once covering southern Europe, these trees can now only be found on the island of Madeira, the Canary Islands and parts of southern Portugal. Fanal is well known for an almost constant presence of fog, which we were lucky to experience here on our first visit to create a further sense of mystery to these trees. By the following day however, all was bright and sunny. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Ghostly Autumn Trees, Yosemite NP #3
Before sunrise on a cold, clear autumn morning, fog rolled in and out of the Valley’s many meadows, providing an ethereal quality to these beautiful fall trees captured with my telephoto. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Ghostly Autumn Trees, Yosemite NP #4
Before sunrise on a cold, clear autumn morning, fog rolled in and out of the Valley’s many meadows, providing an ethereal quality to these beautiful fall trees captured with my telephoto. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Ghostly Autumn Trees, Yosemite NP #2
Before sunrise on a cold, clear autumn morning, fog rolled in and out of the Valley’s many meadows, providing an ethereal quality to these beautiful fall trees captured with my telephoto. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Autumn Woodland 1, Great Smoky Mountains NP
Some of the roadside vantage points provided fantastic telephoto opportunities to capture the amazing diversity of woodland on the slopes of the Great Smoky Mountains. The subtle variations of autumnal color within the scene was further icing on the cake. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Sun Breaking Through Fog, Glacier NP
One of my favorite types of light to capture with my camera is the ethereal quality found at the very edges of clearing fog. I was drawn to the sunlight illuminated on the needles of these coniferous trees as the sun was breaking through the morning mist rising on Wilbur Creek in Glacier NP. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Foggy Trees, Glacier NP
Coniferous trees shrouded by rapidly shifting fog in the high elevations of Glacier National Park. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Manzanita Lake Burning Fog
The month of June experienced unusually cold and wet weather in Lassen Volcanic National Park which resulted in beautiful clearing mist conditions on the surface of Manzanita Lake at sunrise. The morning sun illuminated the mist and tree tops in a warm glow while Lassen Peak in the background remained in cool blue shadow. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Boy Scout Trail Redwood Grove
A grove of redwood trees photographed in diffuse, early morning light with the telephoto to compress and accentuate their vertical regularity. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Damnation Creek Trail Mystical Forest
During an evening hike on Damnation Creek Trail, the very last frame of the day as the wind kicked up, the fog rolled in, and darkness began to settle in the redwood forest. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Cliffside and Trees in Mist, Tunnel View Revisited
At Tunnel View, during an evening with clearing storm light, I kept getting funny looks from other photographers when I was photographing with my telephoto pointed off to the side or even behind me, but I loved watching the clouds swirl around the trees in the far distance, and was drawn to the warm tones of the bare trunks with the cool tones of the pines shrouded in fog. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Trees Rising from the Clouds, Tunnel View
At Tunnel View, during an evening with clearing storm light, I kept getting funny looks from other photographers when I was photographing with my telephoto pointed off to the side or even behind me, but I loved watching the clouds swirl around the trees in the far distance, and was drawn to the warm tones of the clearing sky above the cool, blue tones of clearing fog. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Afternoon Sunlight in the Aspen Forest
During an overlanding camping trip between Southwest Colorado and Moab, Utah, I found it interesting that many parts of Colorado resembled the Utah desert, and this beautiful aspen forest in Utah reminded of Colorado. We camped in the middle of this aspen grove on our last day, and when I saw this gorgeous quality of golden light, I had to grab my camera to capture some high key forest images. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Dancing Aspen Panorama
A popular photographic subject, the curvilinear shape of these unusual aspen trees in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado was likely caused by an avalanche or soil creep when the trees were young. While these trees are commonly photographed in the height of the fall season, I found the lush green foliage carpeting the forest floor in summertime to be equally as beautiful as the autumnal foliage. The bright summer sunlight was made diffuse by thick wildfire smoke, but the sound of aspen leaves gently blowing in the breeze made for an enjoyable, therapeutic experience in the forest. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Dancing Aspen, Colorado Summer
A popular photographic subject, the curvilinear shape of these unusual aspen trees in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado was likely caused by an avalanche or soil creep when the trees were young. While these trees are commonly photographed in the height of the fall season, I found the lush green foliage carpeting the forest floor in summertime to be equally as beautiful as the autumnal foliage. The bright summer sunlight was made diffuse by thick wildfire smoke, but the sound of aspen leaves gently blowing in the breeze made for an enjoyable, therapeutic experience in the forest. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com
Green River Cottonwood
When emerging from the truck camper during an overnight camping trip along the Green River in Utah, I was driven to grab my camera and capture the reflection of the red canyon walls in the ripples of the water with a cottonwood tree as a foreground element. https://www.optimalfocusphotography.com