Sunday, May 31, 2009

Photography at Rialto Beach

After a long winter this year, the weather has been unexpectedly clear and unusually warm. There has not been a Memorial Day weekend like this in recent memory. Normally we are setting down for quite a bit of rain.

Some of the most beautiful beaches on the Washington coast are near La Push, near the Quileute Nation. It's a 50 minute drive from beautiful Lake Crescent, our base on the Olympic Peninsula.

Greeted by fantastic weather and and a light NW wind, the beach was full of Memorial Day visitors, which thinned out as I proceeded north. Ellen Creek was surprising low and easy to cross.


Sea Stacks on Rialto Beach

One interesting phenomen
a was the complete lack of shore birds. Some were spotted on the outer rocks far offshore, but otherwise absent. A few eagles were making their way up and down the beach, but not a single sea gull.


Clouds were part of the scene until near sunset, when only a few high cirrus clouds were around. Rapidly changing light was fun and challenging. The overlook at the top of Hole in the Wall was a bit thin in spots, and daunting.

When the weather is not fearsome with horizontal rain, Rialto/Hole in the Wall are always a photographer's dream come true.