Hoh Rain Forest in January

ksproul

Last weekend, my wife and I made a trip out to the Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park for the first time. I had been to the Quinault a few times, but never the Hoh. It was beautiful! We just did two shorter trails around the visitor center due to limited daylight time (which was due to a late start on the 3.5 hour drive out there), and I felt like I was only able to scratch the surface of the photographic opportunities there.

This was my first real stab at rainforest photography, so I'm very curious to see what you guys think of these shots and which ones you like or dislike. Aside from the challenge of trying to find compositions that work, I also found setting the white balance when processing the raw files a bit challenging and ended up putting it more toward the cool side (around 5000-5200K) than I would've expected to avoid an overly yellow cast. I'd be interested in any feedback or tips on that too. Thanks!

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Adamideas

Wow, really cool place, well worth the trip. I love the reds and the greens of the moss. I found that some of the shots looked a little bit warm to me but it really didn't take anything away from the shot.

Allan FG

I like #2 and #3, I think #7 would have been better if you had swung the camera a little left and captured both banks the stream.

Crokey

Great shots, I'm so jealous of the area, you've made it look enchanted. I think you made the right choice cooling the temp. in the photos but I would go even further. The last photo seems to bang-on with regards to colour temp. with the deep greens and reds contrasting nicely. This doesn't work so well in the others because the greens have more yellow in them and the effect it lost.

NorthernFocus

I like nos. 3 and 7. Others lacked an anchoring point in the photo and my eye just wandered around. I agree with favoring the cooler side of WB in that situation. One actually sees cool light in that situation and if warmed too much it doesn't look natural IMO. I'm envious of all the greenery. Everything black and white up here.

ksproul

Adamideas wrote: »

Wow, really cool place, well worth the trip. I love the reds and the greens of the moss. I found that some of the shots looked a little bit warm to me but it really didn't take anything away from the shot.

Thanks for the feedback. I loved what the red coat of leaves on the ground added as well. As for the warmth, that's exactly what I was struggling with, and I'm still not sure if I set it optimally. I might try to redo some of them a bit cooler.

Allan FG wrote: »

I like #2 and #3, I think #7 would have been better if you had swung the camera a little left and captured both banks the stream.

Thanks! For #7, I had a few different compositions, and that one is actually a cropped version, but I was having trouble making the original work. I also wasn't terribly happy with the final one, but I wanted to include one with the water. I might have to play around with those shots again to see what I can do. Thanks for the suggestion.

Crokey wrote: »

Great shots, I'm so jealous of the area, you've made it look enchanted. I think you made the right choice cooling the temp. in the photos but I would go even further. The last photo seems to bang-on with regards to colour temp. with the deep greens and reds contrasting nicely. This doesn't work so well in the others because the greens have more yellow in them and the effect it lost.

Thanks. The photos I posted are in chronological order, and it was getting quite a bit darker toward the end (just before sunset), so that probably explains the cooler look of the last one. I appreciate the feedback and will probably try processing them a bit cooler.

NorthernFocus wrote: »

I like nos. 3 and 7. Others lacked an anchoring point in the photo and my eye just wandered around. I agree with favoring the cooler side of WB in that situation. One actually sees cool light in that situation and if warmed too much it doesn't look natural IMO. I'm envious of all the greenery. Everything black and white up here.

Thanks for the feedback. The anchoring point was definitely a struggle, and that's one reason I really one to go back and spend some time finding better compositions with more defined subjects. I knew the rainforest would be a challenge in this regard, so I'd like to work at it some more.

squirl033

having been to the Hoh rain forest a number of times, i understand the frustrations of trying to find compositions that work. the main issue i have with these is the color... the reds are much too intense, and too far shifted toward the magenta, especially in the first 4 shots. # 5 is much more natural looking in that regard. dead maple leaves don't have nearly that vivid a color... they're more brown and orange, or a dull rust color. the mosses look a bit too yellow, as well... yellow is what moss does when it's too dry. someplace that gets 12 FEET pf rain a year doesn't have that problem!

as far as compositions, you're a bit constrained by the terrain and vegetation, at least on the trail that leads up the hillside. if you take the other one, out by the river, it's a bit more open, and you can probably find other opportunities, but in the forest itself, it's hard to get a scene with a single focal point. in places like that, i often try to find "microscapes" to shoot... smaller scenes, perhaps a single fern, a log, a stump, a rock, something that can sorta be isolated so the scene isn't so cluttered.

i did take the liberty of downloading the second shot and fiddling with it a bit in camera RAW to achieve a more natural appearance. i'll post it if you like...

ksproul

squirl033 wrote: »

having been to the Hoh rain forest a number of times, i understand the frustrations of trying to find compositions that work. the main issue i have with these is the color... the reds are much too intense, and too far shifted toward the magenta, especially in the first 4 shots. # 5 is much more natural looking in that regard. dead maple leaves don't have nearly that vivid a color... they're more brown and orange, or a dull rust color. the mosses look a bit too yellow, as well... yellow is what moss does when it's too dry. someplace that gets 12 FEET pf rain a year doesn't have that problem!

as far as compositions, you're a bit constrained by the terrain and vegetation, at least on the trail that leads up the hillside. if you take the other one, out by the river, it's a bit more open, and you can probably find other opportunities, but in the forest itself, it's hard to get a scene with a single focal point. in places like that, i often try to find "microscapes" to shoot... smaller scenes, perhaps a single fern, a log, a stump, a rock, something that can sorta be isolated so the scene isn't so cluttered.

i did take the liberty of downloading the second shot and fiddling with it a bit in camera RAW to achieve a more natural appearance. i'll post it if you like...

Thanks for the detailed comments! Regarding the reds, I do recall them being much more vibrant and red than the usual dead, brown leaves in person. I didn't do anything in the processing that should've pumped up those reds or made them more magenta, but it may just be part of the white balance issue. The next time I go out there, I'll bring a gray card or at least a sheet of white paper with me, as I want to see if that helps with the whole white balance situation. I'm still surprised that even though I set it cooler than daylight (around 5000-5200K) when processing these, they still came out too warm.

I would love to see what you've done with the second one or any of the others. Feel free to post it. Thanks!

kdog

I really like this series. I love the richness of the colors, and yet you've preserved the dark and misty look of the rain forest. As far as comps, the only one I'm not as wild about is #6. The rest of them are stunning to my eye. Great job all the way around.

Sam

Thanks for posting!!! You reminded me that I need to clean my refrigerator.

Sam

squirl033

Kris,
i pulled this one into PS and redid it so the colors match more closely what i usually see in the woods. the greens are fine, but in the original, the reds were much darker and more magenta in hue than any maple leaves i've ever seen, with the possible exception of some of the Japanese lace-leaf acers. i've never seen regular western maple leaves that color... here's my modified version. let me know what you think...