California Photo Scout

Visiting a State Park consisting mostly of trees may be a hard sell to your fellow travelers, but well worth the struggle. Calaveras Big Tree State Park is host to some of the largest specimen of Sequoia, the world’s biggest trees. Its location off Highway 4, far away from the usual tourist routes, makes this park even more interesting. During the peak travel season, it is thus a better idea to see Calaveras Big Tree SP and scratch Sequoia National Park from your itinerary.

Within the park, you will find some of the largest trees, but also signs of early mutilations such as the essential tunnel tree found in many places where Sequoias grow. For some reason early explorers felt that they had to tunnel through perfectly healthy trees or skin them to assemble an exhibition back east. I am sure the trees appreciated being chopped up in the name of conservation.

After decades of struggle and standoffs with lumber companies, the park finally became established. The trees are now protected, but once again, the greenback threatens these green trees, as the state of California struggles to survive the budget crunch.

Come, see and photograph the giant trees at Calaveras Big Tree SP as long as you still can, I promise it will be worth your time.

How to get there

The entrance to the park is located about four miles north of Arnold, almost 100 miles east of Sacramento on scenic Highway 4. Driving east on Highway 4, the entrance to the park will be on your right. It is clearly marked.

GPS position

• 38°16’33.50″N 120°18’34.31″W

How to photograph Calaveras Big Tree State Park

Three Stooges

Photographing the giant Sequoias in a forest is difficult due to their height. You cannot step back far enough, since smaller trees will obstruct your view. You have to photograph the trees from a relatively close distance, which means you need to use a wide-angle lens and tilt it upwards. This causes perspective distortions, with trees leaning inwards.

You can use a wide perspective correction (tilt and shift lens), but these are expensive. You can also use software to correct the perspective distortions, but you need to leave as much room above the subjects as possible, to have sufficient area in your picture for perspective correction. Since the trees are very large, even a wide-angle lens will limit how much room you can leave.

To get the highest quality pictures, you should bring a tripod. Occasionally, I had to boost ISO sensitivity a few stops, as the forest canopy blocks most of the available light. To achieve a large depth of field in this relative darkness, you need to expose longer.

It is hard to comprehend the size of these trees unless you include references in your composition. You could use a person standing near a tree. Tell the person to look towards the most interesting point of your frame and use their line of sight to guide the viewer of your picture. I like to place people near the lower right corner. As we “read” the picture, we often finish at the lower right corner, just as we would when reading an article. When we get to the person looking into the frame, we will automatically follow their line of sight.

Use arcs like the one described above to captivate your audience and keep them looking at the picture for a long time.

You can use other elements to demonstrate the size of the trees, like the wooden pathway or other adult trees of different species, to help our minds to make the connection and understand the size of the trees.

Inside a Sequoia

In the picture above, I stepped inside a fallen tree and used it to frame a portion of the forest. Look for unique shots that emphasize the size of the giant sequoia trees. Take close-up shots, filling the entire frame with a trunk of a giant sequoia and look for interesting shadow patterns to round off your portfolio.

Pick up your trash and leave the forest the way you entered it! Cutting on trees with your knife brings bad luck. Horrible things could happen to you and your loved ones. Do not risk it!

Best Time of the Day and Best Season

The altitude of the park makes it a pleasant getaway from the scorching heat of the central valley during the summer months. In winter, parts of the park are closed due to snow.

Light is always a challenge in a forest. Mid day actually works well, but the contrast may overwhelm your camera’s capabilities.

Time required

The north cove hike takes between 60 to 90 minutes with plenty of time for photography. The south cove hike takes between 2 to 4 hours, depending how far you want to go.

Equipment

• Wide-angle lens
• Perspective correction lens (Tilt and Shift)
• Macro Lens
• Polarizing Filter (colors in foliage)
• Tripod
• Slingshot backpack to stow Camera away quickly (protects from dust)
• Jacket
• Picnic items (no food service anywhere nearby)

Fees

$10/car

Bears

The forests of the Sierra Nevada are home to the magnificent heraldic animal on the California flag, the black bear. Bears have a natural fear of humans, which they sometimes forget in search of food. Equipped with the world’s finest noses, bears can sense food in your car and cause severe damage breaking in. Even worse is the fact that bears that become accustomed to food also lose their fear of humans and can become a danger. Rangers have to put down these bears.

Keep wildlife wild and keep bears afraid. Do not approach a bear and make noise. Do not run from a bear, as this often triggers the chasing impulse in hunting mammals. Stand your ground and move slowly backwards. Do not corner the animal, leave an escape path open and it will usually take it.

Close Locations

• Columbia SHP
• Jamestown (Railtown 1897 SHP)
• Angels Camp
• Alpine County, Ebbetts Pass
• Daffodil Hill
• Bridgeport
• Carson Pass, Carson Creek and Monitor Pass
• Bodie SHP
• Chemung Mine
• Hetch Hetchy – Wapama Falls Hike
• Sacramento Old Town
• Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park
• California State Capitol – Sacramento

Useful Resources

• Official Website with current information, hours and trail guides.

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