California National Parks

With the wildfires all over Northern California in late June, everywhere we went there was smoke.  I was so disappointed that all of my plans to photograph the parks were being taken away from me.  However, there were moments when the light created by the smoke made for some opportunities that aren't usually available and one of these times was late in the day at the Hetch Hetchy reservoir in Yosemite when the low sun shone through the smoke to create a rosey light that accentuated the already red soil and bark of the manzanita bushes and pine trees.

Sequoia National Park has been hit with many forest fires in recent years.  Most are smaller fires that are allowed to burn in a managed situation because sequoia seeds can only germinate after being burned.  The fires don't usually destroy the mature Sequoias but they do end up burning the inside of the trees to create living outer walls and charred interiors.  Here I caught what I thought summed up the fires we were breathing with charred trees all around the older Sequoia burned at the bases and still, green branches above.