Hiking With My Son

A week or so back, the girls were out of town and it was just my two year old son and I for the weekend. I figured I’d make the most of it and get the two of us outside together to soak in a little nature! The more time the kids spend in nature the better, as far as I’m concerned.

With an afternoon nap looming, we opted to head to a place close to home - Lord Hill Regional Park. This park sits in the Skykomish Valley along the Snohomish River, just after the Snoqualmie and Skykomish meet. The park is mostly forested with a variety of trails for hikers, cyclist, and equestrians. We made a day out of exploring the woods and talking about the trees and things we saw. He rode on my back in the kid carrier pack we have, which was perfect as he’s just a little too small for some of the rocky trails. Plus, the backpack is at the perfect height for him to grab trees as we went by.

Naturally I brought my camera along and I grabbed a few pictures as we explored. This is a challenging environment for photography. There’s lots of visual chaos in the forest which requires a patient eye. In addition, changing light and a heavy, moving weight on my back made things tricky. I didn’t bring a tripod and shot everything handheld on my EOS R with RF 24-105/f4L, sometimes at higher ISOs. Despite all that, I’m happy with the results. I hope you enjoy!