Mt. Rainier Three Day Workshop, August 20-22, 2019

Mt. Rainier is the icon of the Pacific Northwest. At 14,440 ft, it can be seen from many distant locations throughout Washington, sometimes seen peering just over the horizon where one can sense the curvature of the earth. It’s a photographers paradise in many ways.

In the evening, beautiful light on the mountain from an approaching weather front provided interesting clouds and color over the mountain and warm light on the Tatoosh Range to the south. The meadows were covered with late season wildflowers. Calmness with the occasional call of ravens.

Lovely light near sunset

With gray skies the next morning, and a sprinkle or two, we visited various sections of the cascading Paradise River, photographing a hidden waterfall and the lovely greenery along the river. The rain worked it’s way up the valley, so it was time to retreat to the newly restored and cozy Paradise Lodge. While it poured down, a good session of Adobe Lightroom and Nik Silver Efex was in order. The rain showed no sign of abating, so we headed for dinner with hopes of some clearing the next day.

Starting our exploration of the Paradise River

Morning was calm, with the mountain shrouded in fog and some promise of clearing to the east. Over grassy trails we surveyed the Tipsoo Lake area near Chinook Pass. The sun was shining, with glimpses of the summit of Mt. Rainier. The Sunrise area in the northeastern part of the park is always full of surprises. The clouds graciously parted for some very lovely views of Emmons and Winthrop glaciers and the lovely summit for the final part of the workshop.

Plenty of light and interesting clouds

If you would like to view their workshop images, click here>

One Day Misty Oregon Coast Workshop in Oceanside

Greeted by misty conditions, we rounded Maxwell Point with lots of surf, a deserted beach and nice sand and rock areas at low tide. The beautiful sea stacks were playing hide and seek in the morning fog.

Carol Enyart, ©2016

Moving water around the rocks was one of themes, and using slower shutter speeds to capture it's motion. A bevy of gulls and cormorants were in the air and on the rocks.

Birds and Sea Stacks. Andrew Kaplan, ©2016

As the tide returned and the fog lifted a bit, the scene changed to more blue skies and sun, bringing with it the throngs who were escaping the heat of interior Oregon. We headed to Roseanna's Cafe for a very nice lunch and a window seat.

After lunch we visited Will Dixon and his gracious wife Betsy in their lovely home perched near a cliff on overlooking the Pacific at Cape Meares. Will is a master wood carver who often works in the traditions of the Native Northwest woodcarvers, as well as carving some of his own lovely imaginary creations. He is also and noted author.

Will Dixon. Kira Bartlett, ©2016

Will is a fountain of stories, so he related some of his experiences with working with tagging raptors, as well as telling some of the famous NW native legends that inspires his carvings. He also graciously provided shortbread crab cookies he had made that day for us.

We then headed to the Bayocean area to explore the beach and the cliffs on the north end of Cape Meares. The persistent fog finally came ashore to this lovely beach, but we were treated to some beautiful light before the fog descended.

Cape Meares Mist, Katrina Gustafson, ©2016

The advent of seeing a sunset was not be, as the heavy fog moved in. After a very busy day, we decided to have a relaxing evening inside!

A collection of participant photographs from this workshop can be seen here>>

Columbia Gorge Waterfalls and Vistas Workshop

Although many visits and workshops have taken place over the years in the Gorge, every visit has unique and interesting aspects. This June workshop was focused on visiting familiar areas as well as some beautiful and less well known areas to photograph.

We started the workshop at one of finest vistas in the Columbia Gorge, Women's Forum Overlook. This gives everyone a chance to meet, discuss gear and other make adjustments while taking in the view and scouting different compositions along the Overlook. This is a place worth visiting time and again, as the light and clouds are always changing. The view of Vista House is an added bonus.

Here are two versions of the same scene from different angles, with different light and processing.

Kira Bartlett, ©2016

Larry Holmes, ©2016

The first waterfall visit was to the unusual and varied Panther Creek Falls north of Carson. After a very short walk, one can shoot from the well placed platform, or venture along the creek for a wide variety of compositions.

Many falls and streams to photograph at Panther Creek

Steve Synder, ©2016

After lunch at Skamania Lodge Cafe, we headed back to Oregon and visited Starvation Creek with it's falls and variations in compositions in the creek. It seemed the creek had been scoured a bit, with a very humble amount of vegetation this visit. Participants found their own unique and intimate views of this lovely creek, as well as the falls.

Back in Washington via the Hood River Bridge, we stopped at one of my favorite small falls in the Gorge, Dog Creek Falls. With some very nice late afternoon light, the falls was quite charming. Chinook Salmon spawn here in the fall.

Suzanne Michalik, ©2016

Our last area was Hamilton Island, overlooking the Gorge to the west. Although sunset was a bit demure, we still had some pleasant light on the clouds, promenades and features around St. Peter's Dome. Pearson Island, Beacon Rock and the surrounding bird sanctuary are a most pleasant place at sunset.

Photographing along the Columbia River

 

Steve Synder, ©2016

Photographs from this workshop can be seen here>>

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>>

Spring in the Eastern Gorge Workshop

After a very wet March, April provided some needed sunshine and great conditions for photography. All the rain and then sun added to a spectacular display of wildflowers in the Columbia Hills and surrounding areas. Of particular beauty was the Arrowleaf Balsamroot and Lupine blooming concurrently.

Suzanne Michalik, ©2016

Under blue skies with some cirrus clouds, we headed directly to Columbia Hills State Park in Washington state, and drove up the lumpy road to the small parking area above the Dalles Mt. Ranch. The oak trees were just starting to leaf out, adding a nice warm color to the opulent flower display.

Setting up along a flower covered hillside

John Camp, ©2016

Carol Enyart, ©2016

We moved to a lower area in late morning, where there were different groupings of flowers and trees. This area also has some nice views of the flower covered Columbia Hills, the Columbia River and Mt. Hood.

Kira Bartlett, 2016

After a very fine lunch at the Baldwin Saloon in The Dalles, we visited the beautiful Horsethief Butte State Park, which adjoins Columbia Hills. There are many subjects to choose from here, with some added clouds and lovely light on the Columbia near sunset. Even the contrails looked pretty good. We also had a nice ring around the sun through the cirrus clouds.

Suzanne Michalik, ©2016

 It was a great day of photography and a full day of capturing some of the beauty found here. If you would like to see more images from this workshop, click here>>

Working to capture the last light on the Butte. Kira Bartlett, ©2016