Thursday, June 30, 2016

Long Awaited Olympic Photography Workshop, May 2016

After being in many beautiful areas of the Olympic Peninsula over a 40 year period, a way to share  some special places has been a goal for some time. One very important aspect in making it possible is having a small family cabin to act as a base for our workshop on the shores of picturesque Lake Crescent.

Thursday evening we gathered for a small briefing and dinner at Lake Crescent Lodge, and then headed into the old growth forest along Barnes Creek. Using a beautiful grove of ancient Cedars as our base, we explored this forest and creek with the goal of sharpening our seeing and relaxing from the driving and the pace of the city.
Forest and Barnes Creek. John Camp, ©2016
Friday morning we headed to the land of the Quileute tribe on the Pacific, hiking Rialto Beach in the morning mist. Solitude and an eagle were our companions as the low tide slowly advanced into the exposed rocks. The sun was working on clearing the mist and we were working on various compositions of rock, sunbeams, trees and driftwood. We continued down to Hole in the Wall, with limited time to shoot before the tide advanced. We headed back to a fine lunch in La Push.

Get up close to the driftwood at Rialto Beach
Walking back on Rialto Beach as the tide approaches. Thanks, Connie
 In the afternoon we had a 2 1/2 hour Lightroom review and develop session. After dinner at the Lodge, we explored the rough coast along the Strait of Juan de Fuca at Salt Creek. Sunset was quite pleasant, and there was some very nice wave action on the rocky shoreline.

Saturday was a very full day as well. Early morning we headed back to the coast to catch low tide at Second Beach. No mist this morning! The sun was in complete command of the day, with the light already quite strong by 10a. The sea stacks are always very stately as the tide advanced. We elected to have another lunch in La Push at River's Edge.

Walking along the textured sand at Second Beach
After a break another Lightroom session was held at the cabin. It's always highly instructive to share each others work right after a photo session. My wife Cheryl and I then prepared a locally caught white salmon dinner which was a real treat.

The first clouds we had seen for a few days had sneaked in, with the possibility that our trip to Hurricane Ridge might be clouded in. Evidence of better weather was not apparent as we drove up, but we continued to the Ridge to find the sky breaking in places and a nice view to the north towards Victoria and Vancouver Island. We then hurried back to shoot the beautiful light and clouds over the Bailey Range, with long bands of color and clouds. The afterglow light was also quite beautiful. A very satisfying end to our workshop. We arrived back at 11p after a long day!

Sunset over the Bailey Range from Hurricane Ridge
Participant photographs from this workshop can be seen here>>