California Photography and Travel Guide - Redwood Coast
- Where to Stay: Ocean View Inn in Crescent City. The hotel is centrally located which makes day trips to various points along the Redwood Coast more manageable.
- Where to Eat: The Good Harvest Cafe is locally-owned and gets rave reviews for its American cuisine and seafood.
- Must-See Attractions: Battery Point Lighthouse, Oceanworld, and Beach Front Park are just a few attractions near Crescent City worth your time.
- Best luggage: For a trip of this length, the Nomatic Check-In roller bag is the ideal choice. It offers polycarbonate construction that stands up to the rigors of travel, silent wheels, low-profile handles, and a three-stage aluminum handle to fit your height. With space for 78 liters of gear, this bag has plenty of room for a 5-day trip or longer.
- Check the weather in the Redwoods area right now.
Photo by Justin Black
Few places in the world have the mystique and primordial beauty of California’s Redwood Coast.
This area is rich with photographic opportunities, from its signature trees to the carpet of rhododendrons that explode with blooms in early summer to the coast itself - a long and jagged playground of sea stacks, cliffs, and wild beaches.
One could spend weeks in this region and never see the same vista twice. But that begs the question, if you travel to the Redwood Coast, what are the must-photograph locations?
Below, I’ve outlined three Redwood Coast sights that you absolutely cannot miss on your visit.
What to Photograph on the Redwood Coast - The Redwoods!
Photo by Justin Black
Clearly, the ancient redwood forests have to be on your list of things to photograph on your trip.
The redwoods along the coastal forest soar over 300 feet high, piercing the fog that rolls in each day. The quality of atmosphere and light photographs spectacularly well.
Opportunities are abundant to photograph these beautiful beasts from up close and afar. A can’t-miss location is the Avenue of the Giants, a 31-mile drive through the forest that puts the sheer size of the redwoods on full display.
On foot, you can explore the redwood forests from easy hiking paths in the Lady Bird Johnson Grove or in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, where the forest floor is covered in lush ferns.
The coastal view of the redwood forests (discussed below) is a can’t-miss sight as well!
What to Photograph on the Redwood Coast - Wild Rhododendrons
Photo by Justin Black
As impressive as the massive redwoods are, there’s something to be said for the chance to photograph a much more delicate subject on the Redwood Coast.
Nearly translucent, pink wild rhododendrons dot the redwood forest floor, a gorgeous juxtaposition to the hulking mass of the dark brown redwood trunks and their deep green needles.
If you time your trip just right in the early summer, you’ll be provided with the best opportunities to photograph wild rhododendrons as they reach their peak bloom. The Rhododendron Trail is a particularly excellent spot to view these blooms, and the light filtering through the forest canopy offers opportunities for truly dramatic images.
Quick Tip: Lupine can also found in abundance in early summer, their vertical plumes carpeting the hillsides. Take time to visit the Bald Hills, which has a history of some of the most spectacular lupine blooms in Northern California.
What to Photograph on the Redwood Coast - The Coast
Photo by Justin Black
A visit to the Redwood Coast isn’t complete without taking some time to explore the spectacular coastline of Northern California and Southern Oregon.
Unlike the Southern California coast, which is known for its golden beaches, the Northern coast is far more rugged and wild.
Humboldt Lagoons State Park - a windswept area where the forest meets the sea - should be a prime target for your camera. If it’s a view of massive sea stacks dotting the coastline, Moonstone Beach County Park should be on your to-do list.
The combination of the jagged coast, soaring cliffs, quiet coves, and redwoods dotting the coastal mountains is simply breathtaking. Add in the opportunity to photograph these diverse landscapes amidst the fog and spectacular California sunsets, and you have a recipe for a photographic location that cannot be missed!
How to Make the Most of Photographing the Redwood Coast
Photo by Justin Black
Like any gorgeous place ripe for photographers, the Redwood Coast offers so many possibilities that it can become a challenge to simply decide where to head with your camera.
That being the case, it’s best to explore this majestic area as part of a photography workshop.
Visionary Wild offers a Redwood Coast Workshop with master photographers Jack Dykinga, John Shaw, and Justin Black that will take you to some of the most stunning locations Northern California has to offer. But this isn’t just a photo tour with a few stops along the way to take photos...
Instead, Visionary Wild is dedicated to helping you achieve personal growth as a photographer. In a small-group setting (no more than 10 participants), you’ll get plenty of one-on-one time with the workshop leaders so you can get expert advice on how to improve composition, lighting, tonal control, your overall workflow, and much more.
Photo by Justin Black
As part of the Redwood Coast Workshop, you’ll spend mornings and evenings exploring your outdoor classroom and capturing the beauty of the landscape under the warm glow of golden hour lighting.
During the day, you’ll join the workshop leaders for classroom sessions in which you dive deep into topics on advanced seeing, composition, creativity, and digital workflow. Critique sessions offer a chance to share your work with others and get constructive feedback on how you can maximize your potential behind the lens.
Dykinga, Shaw, and Black - each possess extensive experience exploring and photographing the Redwood Coast. Their insights, instruction, feedback, and support will help you build the strong foundation you need to reach your potential behind the lens.
Learn more about Visionary Wild
Planning Your Redwoods Photography Trip
Photo by Justin Black