This is one of just a few old-growth forests remaining in West Virginia, a state with an unfortunately extensive logging history. I wanted to capture, as best I could, what the woods might have looked like at one point—not just at that location, but all over the WV highlands.
Besides featuring native red spruce, what really drew my eye to this scene was the giant glacial boulders prevalent in some of my favorite Appalachian forests and how this giant spruce was growing over them. Add in some ferns, plenty of moss, and copious amounts of green, and I feel like I managed to jam-pack a cornucopia of lush, old-growth goodness into this one little frame.
