Javin Elliff Photography

Forests

Wandering off-trail through ancient forests is my favorite pastime – from the mossy temperate rainforests of the west coast to the aspen groves of the Rocky Mountains, and everything in between.

A faint rainbow over a river on the Olympic Peninsula.
A sliver of rainbow stands out against a backdrop of old-growth forest.
Clouds and fog add depth to forested ridges.
Tall trees in fog
Close-up view of sword ferns encased in ice on a cold winter day.
Icicles hang from sword ferns covered in ice.
Dozens of Sitka spruce grow from a bed of sword ferns.
A mature alder bottom surrounding a dry creek bed on a sunny day.
A game trail through big trees in an old-growth temperate rainforest.
Looking out at a river from within the forest, with alders and conifers visible across the river.
Old-growth trees in the temperate rainforest.
Tall, standing dead trees from a forest fire.
Moss-covered bigleaf maple in the temperate rainforest.
A mossy bigleaf maple in the foreground, with thick red alders in the distance.
Moss covers the long branches of an old bigleaf maple tree in the temperate rainforest.
Standing dead trees in a burn on a smoky day.
Standing snags in a burn
A black and white photo of dead trees in a burn.
A large western redcedar in the foreground with several other large specimens in the background.
Old-growth western hemlock on a sunny day.
A large twisted tree trunk in an old-growth forest.
A sunny day in an old-growth temperate rainforest.
Three giant western redcedar trees and one western hemlock in a dense old-growth forest.
Snow-covered trees on a distant ridge in the Pacific Northwest.
Sunlight illuminates a distant snow-covered ridge, partially cloaked in clouds.
Two giant, moss-covered Sitka spruce trees with flared roots that grew from a nurse log.
Large Sitka spruce and western hemlock growing next to a trail through the forest.
Western hemlock trees in an old-growth forest.
A faint game trail leads through this beautiful stand of western hemlock and Douglas fir.
Mountain hemlock and subalpine fir trees in the fog.
Dense fog in a subalpine forest in the Pacific Northwest.
A grassy clearing in the forest.
A beautiful, grassy clearing in an old growth forest.
A large mossy bigleaf maple in the temperate rainforest of the Pacific Northwest.
A unique growth at the base of a huge western redcedar tree.
Large trees growing from a dense carpet of moss and oxalis.
A trail winds through dense underbrush of a Pacific Northwest temperate rainforest.
Moss-covered trees in the rainforest.
A dense grove of huge old-growth Doug fir.
A huge cedar towers over the surrounding forest.
An untouched forest of dense Douglas fir trees.
A trail through a dense stand of second-growth Sitka Spruce.
A grove of yellow aspen in the Rocky Mountains.
A grove of yellow aspens in fall in the Rocky Mountains, with broken forested ridges in the distance.
A sunburst through tall Sitka spruce trees with dense sword ferns on the ground.
Grassy clearing in forest with mossy red alders and vine maple.
Looking uphill in steep old growth with dense undergrowth.
Old-growth western redcedar and western hemlock on a dark winter day, with rays of light penetrating the forest canopy.
A sword fern stands tall in the dark forest, absorbing a short burst of light on a cold winter day
Wildflowers in a foggy subalpine meadow.
Looking downhill through a stand of old-growth, mixed-age western hemlock.
Tall, conical subalpine fir trees covered with fresh snow during a winter blizzard. Snowflakes can be seen in the air.
A trail winds through tall fir and hemlock trees growing from a carpet of sword ferns.
A warm glow from the sun illuminates the foggy old growth.
Dramatic sunlight pierces the fog in an old growth forest.
A view to an open riverbed surrounded by layers of forest. Hemlock branches from overhead droop into the top of the photo. In the far distance, Sitka spruce tower over the green canopy of red alders. The riverbed is littlered with woody debris and a giant downed Sitka spruce. The river is not visible. Red and orange leaves of vine maples frame the foreground.
Old-growth forest on a sunny day. Sun hits the forest floor in places, which is covered with sword ferns. Dark stalks of western hemlock and Douglas fir rise in the shadows.
A grassy alder bottom on a sunny day, near a river in the temperate rainforest. A small twisted vine maple in the lower right.
A beautiful stand of old growth with a mix of western hemlock, Sitka spruce, Douglas fir, and western redcedar. The forest floor carpeted with sword ferns.
A foggy view of mixed-age old-growth forest.
Looking up through dense fog to the tops of large, mature Douglas fir trees in an old growth forest.
Red alders draped with moss, growing from a grassy flat next to a stream in the rainforest.
Old growth western hemlock growing from mossy nurse logs interspersed with sword ferns.
Smoke rises from the Paradise Fire in the Queets River valley in 2015.
A grassy clearing in temperate rainforest surrounded by red alder and sword ferns.