Vacation Photos - 5

No trip to the Northern California coast is complete without a jaunt through Redwoods.  I LOVE redwoods.  I am fascinated by them.  I am amazed by their enormity.  I am in awe at their stature.  They have character.  The "speak" to me.  I can't get enough of them.  When walking through the forest I forget that I'm supposed to be taking photos and just stare at them.  Take in all their beauty.  Like the ocean, I could stare mindlessly at redwood trees for hours.  

Looking up; low-angle; sun-burst
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/100s; f/4.5; ISO: 200

Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 70.0mm; shutter speed: 1/15s; f/4.5; ISO: 200

Went to take a close-up of the flowers and there was an insect on them.  It stayed there long enough to get a couple shots.

Flowers; Close-up; Insect
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 48.0mm; shutter speed: 1/125s; f/5.3; ISO 400

I was captured by the fence construction.  Really simple, but with the moss growing on it, it made for great a photographic subject.

Close-up
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 40.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/13s; f/5.3; ISO: 400

There was this cool tree that had obviously been burned some how.  Not sure what happened, because it's the only tree in the area that is dead due to fire, so it must've been something small.  The sun was behind the tree, so I had to work around the sun, and attempted to get fancy sun burst through the holes in the tree.  This was the best one.  I think if I had more time I could definitely get something better, but for a backlit photo of this nature combined with my inexperience, I'm pleased.  Perhaps a lower ISO setting in dealing with the bright sun, then I can decrease my shutter speed so the tree isn't underexposed.

backlighting; sun burst; tree
Nikon D3100; Focal Length 55.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/15s; f/5.6; ISO 400

Another low-angle photo showing the massiveness of the trees.  I love the braided look of the bark on this one.

Tree; low-angle
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/8s; f/5.0; ISO: 400

An attempt to get a landscape view of part of the forest, using the path for a leading line, leading out of the forest.

landscape; trees; forest
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 30.0 mm; Shutter Speed: 1/4s; f/4.0; ISO: 400

Same idea, but showing the height of the trees.

forest; tree; landscape; leading lines
Nikon D3100; Focal Length: 18.0mm; Shutter Speed: 1/10s; f/9.0; ISO: 400