Justin Lowery's photostream

This group of trees is growing in the middle of a wide creek bed in the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California. The creek has no dedicated bed area, and literally just flows around the trees in the forest, while the trees provide shade and shelter for the stream. It's a truly peaceful and serene place to experience, and you can lie on your back on patches of dry ground in the midst of the creek, beneath the towering trees and soak in the dappled sunlight that filters down through the canopy far above.

These two redwoods are growing with their roots entwined together, grappling a pile of boulders in a stream bed in the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California. The place where they are growing is incredible, with a creek that flows directly through a forest, but unlike most creeks, this one literally flows through the forest - as in, there is no creek bed, but the water is just running between all the trees, which makes it incredibly surreal and peaceful there. You can lie on the ground under these amazing trees with the sun above you filtering down through all the tall and beautiful trees all around you, surrounded by the sound of a babbling brook flowing over the rocks, and over the dozens of waterfalls nearby! It's such a relaxing place.

This was an insane shot to try and get. I had to lie on the ground sideways at an awkward angle with my camera and 14mm lens mashed into the rock in the foreground and crane my neck very hard to see what I was shooting. I'm really happy with the result, and the sunstar came out just the way I wanted it to!

It's hard to believe, but the clouds really were that dark violet color, and the foreground really was that green. I remember thinking to myself that people would assume I altered them in postprocessing because the natural colors were so surreal! The light was really perfect, and I was blessed to be able to be there to capture it in some small way. Just after I left, it began to rain there.

This is another one from the other night at the Santa Rosa Plateau. The clouds were looking great and I decided to head over there and find some great foregrounds. When I arrived, the area I'd intended to shoot was gloomy looking, so I chose to shoot right near the parking lot, and it ended up being some really great light!

Canon 6D + Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM with Circular Polarizer

After watching the weather very carefully all day, at the last minute I decided to go ahead and head out to this place to catch some great light. When I arrived, I noticed that the clouds over the area of the reserve where I had originally intended to shoot were very murky and dull, making the light rather flat. Looking up, I noticed the clouds and light were actually great right where I was standing, so I changed plans and chose to shoot right up the hill from my car rather than hiking the 2+ miles to the other location. The light really was incredible, and the sky changed from blue and gold to a dark violet as it progressed later into the evening. Just as I left in my car, it began to rain.

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