There is something extremely soulful about walking among the Redwoods. When a company reached out to me about doing a product shoot with these gentle giants, I knew there was no way I could turn it down and had to figure out a way to make it happen. I knew I was going to be back in the Pacific Northwest and the parks where these stunning trees reside was only about a 5-6 hour drive away. Given the amount of driving I’ve done in the last year, 5-6 hours seemed like absolutely nothing.

Driving on down to the land of Redwoods.

I reached out to my friends, Meesh and Hollis, to be models and they were extremely excited about the opportunity for an adventure down to California, and obviously hanging out with me. One of the requirements for the shoot was the photos needed to be taken in a campsite surrounded by Redwoods. Seems like an easy thing, but only one campsite was open that is actually among the Redwoods and that was in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, which was 6 hours away from Portland.

Starting our journey a bit later than anticipated, we were able to make the most of the delay by stopping along the southern Oregon coast at Meyers Beach to watch the last bit of sunlight fade away. As the light sank over the horizon, the shapes and structures of the large haystacks slowly grew darker as only a sliver of pink was left in the sky as the dark clouds rolled in overhead.

The northern most point on the beach has giant basalt rock formations that look like shark fins prowling the shoreline. This beach can change greatly depending on the weather with strong winds forming temporary sand dunes that then get washed away during high tide. Still, no matter what condition it’s in, Meyers Beach is absolutely worth discovering.

Anyway, we kept driving south through the dark and rolled into the campsite a little after 9 PM. Setting up in the dark, we ate a late dinner before deciding to go explore the area, as there was a trail out the back of our campsite (we had picked campsite #5 and highly recommend it). The exploration lasted just a few hours, guided by headlamps, but in the dark it was extremely hard to tell how beautiful this place was going to be. My anticipation for morning and for the unknown that the light would uncover in this new place was almost too much for me to contain.

After exploring for a couple hours, snapping some photos and laughing entirely too much and probably a little too loud we decided to head to bed. I didn’t sleep to well because during the middle of the night it started pouring! I don’t mind hearing rain on the tent, I usually find it extremely soothing, but this time it was just loud like the little drummer boy was standing outside my tent!

I finally rolled myself out of bed right before sunrise to see what exactly we had stumbled into the night before and I was not disappointed. We were surrounded by beautiful and massive redwoods all around us, glowing with a light green light from the moss creeping up the trees. The rain had let up and all that was left was low hanging clouds mingling among the tree tops.

Seeing the stars through the trees was a bit impossible.

These are the types of mornings that always remind me that when the weather turns south, I need to get my gear ready and head for the door instead of staying inside. You don’t get these moody scenes when it’s a sunny day. The only bad thing was my camera was in the car, where Hollis and Meesh were sleeping and I decided to let them sleep a little longer instead of setting off their car alarm.

The break in the rain was unfortunately very short lived. A few minutes later it came back with a vengeance and continued flip flop like a bad politician between rain and sun until about noon. Anytime I would get my camera out it would start raining entirely too hard for me to be able to comfortably shoot. Sure, I could have taken photos, but I also would have gotten all of the product I was shooting absolutely soaked, which would not have turned out well for what I was hired to do.

Once the weather finally started to cooperate, we started exploring the trails around the campground that meandered through the beautiful forest. We also were very conscious of our surroundings because while we were cooking breakfast, we saw a “widow maker” fall from a tree (a widow maker is a giant tree branch, sometimes the size of a normal tree, that falls off of a Redwood or any tree really). I forgot my helmet at home so we decided to just be extra careful as we frolicked around.

After shooting in a cluster of Redwoods for a bit we made our way down to the banks of the Smith River. With its brilliantly blue and clear waters you would be hard pressed to find a more tranquil area to spend an afternoon. While hanging out on the beach we saw only 2 other people which were the only 2 people we saw on any of the trails the entire time we were down there. Apparently, March is a good time to visit if you’re seeking some solitude.

Can’t help but look upwards at these giants.

When we got back to camp, we decided to switch campsites and move to spot #3 because of how all the trees were situated. It made for a much better scene to take photos of, even if we did get talked to about switching by a ranger the next morning... oops. Spot #3 is probably the most photogenic of the sites that was open when we went there, there are some real giants enclosing the whole site with a nice wide-open spot at the back for multiple tents and/or a dance floor.

Thankfully while I was taking photos my friends were multitasking by cooking and modeling at the same time. I was starting to get a little bit hangry by the end of the day, and ain’t nobody got time for that. I apparently can become quite a “diva” when I get hangry.

We ate some food and then realized it was getting really fricken cold, but before I let everyone go to bed I had to try and get some night shots of the tent I as shooting. I was asked to get “stargazing” shots... in the Redwoods.... We tried but we couldn’t really see any stars as the canopy above us was quite thick, but hey, I tried.

The next morning, we woke up early and started to take some photos as the sun lit up the canopy above our heads with an incredible glow, filtering through a combination of the early morning mist and the blueish smoke slowly rising from our campfire. As we took photos, shared stories, and enjoyed breakfast I couldn’t help but think how much I wanted to come back here and show Lauren the amazing place that we’d found.

Once the photos and videos were finished the decision was made to make our way back up the coast and into Oregon. My friends were exceptionally patient but were also itching to take some photos of their own. It was after dark when we finally found a place to camp, quickly set up camp and went to bed after a long but productive day.

Just some serious camp vibes in the Redwoods.

A fleeting moment of color in the early morning.

The next morning, we woke up before the sun had awaken but the stars were just getting ready to retire and headed back towards Meyers Beach to watch the sunrise. It didn’t look like the sunrise was going to be rewarding but in a fleeting moment the sun broke through the clouds to cast a pastel pink hue through the morning mist that set the beach a glow. Creating one of those moments that just leaves you in awe and wonder. Once the colors had dissipated we drove to Samuel H. Boardman Scenic Corridor which is as rugged as the coast gets, rugged, but equally as breathtaking. We stopped at Natural Bridges Viewpoint, hoping to catch the early morning sun glowing through one of the arches.

We sat and we waited, watching the water and the light dance among the rocks. While we waited, Meesh somehow had service and was able to do a live feed on Instagram while we waited. Even Lauren was able to see and share in the spectacular morning we were enjoying. As we sat and waited for the next couple of hours, it finally dawned on us that we had missed the window by about a week to catch the light shining through the arch, but it didn’t matter. We still got to enjoy a beautiful morning in a beautiful place.

The rest of the day we spent traveling up the coast, hiking among dunes, eating seafood and indulging in some salt water taffy. Sunset was spent walking among the black stones of Cobble Beach just below Yaquina Head Lighthouse. As the sun set on the day it dawned on me that this little adventure was about over, but I know without a doubt I will be back down walking among those giants again, hopefully sooner than later. I’d been feeling kind of down recently and was in need of a recharge, and well Jedediah Smith State Park definitely gave my batteries the charge they needed.

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