I've always wanted to go to Olympic National Park, and finally I got my wish a couple weeks ago. This was primarily a scouting trip, as the main reason I was in the area was to visit an old friend in Seattle. Thus, I only had a day and a half in the park to work with and only brought my camera, two lenses, and a small, tabletop tripod (so I could just go "carry on" on the plane). Not much time considering the vast size of the park.

This is an image I've always wanted to make, yet never been able to, because A) I just don't get to the Pacific NW very often and B) forests are notoriously difficult to shoot. Finding a spot that has the right light and room to make a good composition are not easy.

I wasn't very optimistic that I'd be able to find such a spot, especially considering my paltry Gorillapod tripod. But, I was lucky enough to find this spot, where a low branch allowed me to attach the tripod. Since it was so flimsy bearing the weight of my camera and lens, I had to use the self-timer in order to avoid camera shake.

This was made from one exposure. I made several slight dodge and burn adjustments, in order to create depth. This is something that Marc Adamus is always talking about, and lately I've really been giving it a lot of effort. I hope you enjoy the result. (Larger version here.)

5DMarkII, 24-105mm lens at 65 mm, f/16, 2 seconds, ISO 100, circular polarizer. And a crapload of patience.

Pretty nice result for a first effort in the rain forest. Very nice colors and details and yup - darkening the background trees does help for the feeling of depth in the image.

Nice work.

Alan

Yep that's the Rain Forest you did a nice job of capturing it's beauty

Ray Still

NIce take Kory, I might tone down the brights a bit more...

Well done. I like your crop of this scene. The last time I was in the Hoh, it was bone dry, but the rains have returned.

Lovely scene indeed. The composition works very well.
Ute

Nice shot, only problem is you sent me off to your web page to see the bigger version and there were so many nice shots there, I almost didn't make it back here with enough time left to make a comment Really nice site with MANY sweet shots, IMHO.

Love the light in this one - the whole scene is glowing! And I assume the PP you mention must have opened up some of the shadow areas in the background, which gives this a very nice look. Feels like I could just step into the picture!

ML

Very beautiful, lush image. I love the soft side-light. Great job.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I really do appreciate each and every one of 'em.

another_mikey wrote:
Nice shot, only problem is you sent me off to your web page to see the bigger version and there were so many nice shots there, I almost didn't make it back here with enough time left to make a comment Really nice site with MANY sweet shots, IMHO.

Love the light in this one - the whole scene is glowing! And I assume the PP you mention must have opened up some of the shadow areas in the background, which gives this a very nice look. Feels like I could just step into the picture!

Lol, seems like a nice "problem" to have, eh? Anyway, the PP I was referring to consisted of:

1. Dodging and burning at very slight opacities to accentuate certain areas while de-accentuating other areas. Done correctly, this adds depth to an image. For example: on the largest tree trunk, I dodged the light up part on the right side, while burning the shadowed areas in the background. It helped the big tree trunk "stand out" more; AKA it added depth.

2. I added a layer of Orton effect at 25% opacity to ONLY the highlights of the image, in order to make them glow a bit and add even more depth. Why only 25%? Because any more and it just gets unrealistic looking for this image. Sometimes, you can push it further, but not this time. Also, why didn't I add any Orton to the shadows? Because it would've darkened them too much and they would've lost too much detail.

I hope that helps clarify.

Lovely take, Kory. You're right about the rain forests. Well done!

Barry