The Big Picture, Baby

Whilst on a twelve mile hike through Sequoia National Park, I came upon this clearing that looked out towards Mount....something. I had lugged my camera, tripod, food, and water through the forest and snapped hundreds of photographs of the Giant Sequoias. Getting a mountain landscape shot like this was the creamy, succulent frosting on an already rich, mouthwatering cake.

I had been surrounded by the world's most amazing trees for hours, completely mesmerized. But I couldn't see what surrounded the forest. I didn't have a sense of the big picture. I couldn't visualize the lay of the land that contained the very forest I was in. But when I came upon this clearing, it gave me a more macro perspective. I could thus place the forest in the context of an entire landscape. That's another reason I love this shot. Besides being scenically spectacular, it gave me a different sense of where I really was. 

If you ever go to Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park, spend a few days there. Hike deep through the Sequoia dominated forest. Instead of just soaking it in around the edges, throw yourself in the middle of it. Don't just look at the trees. Immerse yourself in the forest. Then go another step and get a sense of what the land looks like that contains the forest. It's easy to never get that perspective, but it's worth the effort. It gives you a more complete experience. One of a true inhabitant, instead of just a transient observer.