Photography sites in Northern California

[Dan Dozer]

I'm leaving in two days for a fishing trip to Northern California - West of Mt. Shasta to be exact. On my return to Southern California in a week, I will be looking for a location or two to photograph and am looking for suggestions. I've driven through that part of the state before, but never really stopped to photograph. I'll have both my 4 x 5 and 8 x 10 (first effort with a new/old camera). At first, I was thinking on going through Lassen Park - that is until I learned that the park is still closed because of snow (I hadn't even thought about snow being an issue because it's 110 degrees here in Palm Springs). I'm looking for something that does not involve a whole lot of hiking - up to a couple of miles is OK. I know about Castle Crags and might start there. Will probably check out the falls in Dunsmuir and I was also considering going over towards Burney falls. I've heard that the streams and rivers have quite a lot of water right now.

So - something in between Sacramento and Mt. Shasta. Do any of you have any favorite places in that part of the country?

[Scott Fleming]

I was going to say Pt. Reyes but you have to hike out there to get to the beach.

The mouth of the Russian River at Jenner is quite wild and unique. Often foggy but that can be good.

There's the wine country. Sonoma and Napa counties.

[Bill_1856]

Grab a copy of Weston's "California and the West," and read it at night as an excellent guide (though it's 60 years old).

[John Kasaian]

If the mountains are still snowed under, stick to the coast. redwoods, rivers, seascapes around just about every bend in the road (and theres lots and lots of bends in 101!)

[Bruce Watson]

The coastal redwoods and their forests are quite beautiful, and absolutely full of good photographic opportunities. So is Humbolt State Park - one of the nicest groves of Redwoods still in existence (and the trails are short, flat, and wonderful). Lassen Volcanic Nat. Park is quite interesting but is snowed in as you say. As Scott suggests, the Russian River is nice. All of 101 is nice. Carmel, Santa Barbara, The Bixby Bridge, Big Sur.... California is just a wealth of beautiful photographic opportunities.

[darter]

Gee I wish someone would write a large-format photography guide. This would allow us to go directly to large format suitable sites and/or plug the coordinates into auto navigation systems. This way we could avoid wasting time and film shooting subjects that have not been vetted. There are precious few sites worth capturing with sheet film and it is a damn shame we can't have a the guidance we need 24/7. Nothing is so heart-rending as seeing misguided large formatters wandering aimlessly out in their streets, backyards and cities thinking they are Walker Evans or Bill Brandt and shooting subjects that are unsuitable to the format. Perhaps the U.S. government can put up special signage for large format photography sites similar to those that say "wildlife viewing area" - maybe a picture graphic of Ansel pointing to some tripod holes?

[Mike Lewis]

Burney Falls is definitely worth a visit.

[Dan V]

Dan,
The redwood forests in extreme northern coastal California are spectacular, as is the coastline - but you'll probably need some rain gear.

Phil,
Surely you jest with your statement that "There are precious few sites worth capturing with sheet film...". I'm not aware of any LF-only photo location web sites, but there are lots of photo guides out there already, including:

http://www.photographamerica.com

http://www.worldphotolocations.com/locationindex.phtml?country_id=1076106289817

https://www.keysecure.com/photosecrets.com/guides.secure.html

[Dan Dozer]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions - I didn't expect that much response so soon. It really gives me a lot to "choose" from. Obviously, there are a lot of you who have done a lot of shooting in Northern Cal. Still not sure where I will go yet - will probably just decide when I get there. Thanks again.

[Ralph Barker]

Dan - I think it depends on what you are looking to photograph. There are a wide variety of subjects between Sac and Shasta, including several interesting little towns (i.e. Locke) in the Delta area, Old Town in Sacramento itself, and road kill along Highway 99. ;-) If you'll be fishing streams (as opposed to lake fishing on a boat), I'd take the cameras along, too. Their catch ratio may be better than the fishing pole's.

Phil - I actually have an on-going project of photographing all of the Native American tribes in my backyard. Unfortunately, my backyard has minimal grandeur, and the birch-bark canoes may look out of place in the weeds. Plus, it appears I'll have to supply all of the costumes myself. Nonetheless, I'll be sure to let you know when the project is completed (there will be only a single set of tripod holes, making it easier for those who follow). ;-)

[bob woitaszewski]

Dan,
In coming back down through the Bay Area, find out if the pass through Yosemite is open. If it is, I'd go up to Yosimite and photograph the falls, I heard they are absloutely fabulous, then head up and over the pass to the Eastern Sierra's Bishop, Lone Pine, the Bristle Cone pines by Lone Pine and down along US395.

[Karl Amo]

One can obtain info on whether Tioga Road is open between Yosemite and the east side of the Sierra Nevada here: http://www.nps.gov/yose/now/tioga.htm

As of Monday May 23, the snow plow crews had gotten 22.5 miles east of the gate where the road is closed in winter. That day, they plowed 0.3 miles through snow 8 feet deep.

The web site states: "There is no estimated opening date for 2005"