Landscape

Olympic Rush

I must say, I love wandering the coastal shorelines of Washington and Oregon. There are countless hidden pockets around every corner, it just takes a bit of time walking the beaches to find them. Nothing beats the ocean surf pounding against the sand and rock at your feet. Evening mist along the beach line and the smell of salt with every crashing wave. As a kid, I spent a fair bit of my childhood swimming in the lake I grew up on. I guess that’s why I’ve always been more partial to freshwater than saltwater. It’s in these moments that I appreciate all I had as a young boy and what I have now as an adult.

Emerge

Thrive

Dunes of Light

After sleeping in 30 minutes past sunrise, I dashed from Tillamook to Pacific City to find nothing, but a haze of fog blanketing the coastline. I thought what the heck, Ill climb the dune to see if their was anything worth shooting. After all, I did drive 500 miles to shoot in this location. It would be a shame to turn back. After climbing the sand dune to the location I had shot at the night before, this is what I saw. The sun graced me with its presence casting this orange array of light over the dunes and across the cove below. Ive always known not to give up on a shot even though the lighting may not look great. This time I was reminded of that.

Thunderstruck

Aglow

Struggling to find good light at sea level, it was pretty much overcast and rain. Meanwhile, high in the hills of Vancouver Island, something was brewing. Heavy mist had blanketed the area and was moving through the forest rather quickly. One second it was there and the next it was gone. With short cloud breaks in the sky, the light came piercing through showing off some vivid light rays upon these mossy trees. The backlight was incredible! It was as if a light switch was being turned off and on repeatedly. I was able to witness something quite beautiful which I am very thankful for. The combination of elements here is what made this experience memorable and allowed for this mossy tree glow.

Gateway

Beacon

Frigid

We don’t usually see really low temps here on Vancouver Island although the last few years have been getting colder I find. Some of the arctic air front that came through the prairies decided to pay us a visit as well. The area I was camped at a few weeks back had a nice burst of cold air which totally transformed this marshland into a frozen wonderland.

Island Wilderness

Sun Peeks

Afterglow

I'm often surprised how dramatic light can change once the sun touches down, casting that last bit of brightness. It's in these final moments that I look forward to shooting. As the sun was setting behind these two rocks I would shoot then move left, getting different variations of light from behind. Closing in on this rocky shelf, I was as far left as I could go before loosing this interesting foreground. It all worked out in the end. These were good times spent with my good friend Jon. We had some amazing light back to back which we took full advantage of.

Fountain of Youth

Imagine for a moment that your age is simply how you feel inside. Its a sense of youth instead of time deciding how old we really feel. I ask myself this question every so often and ponder what it would feel like to stay in this moment. It took me several years to make it to this special place... and when I finally did, it was nothing short of amazing. Id never been to a box canyon as lush as this one, not to mention the pools of emerald water. The water was pristine and the walls were covered with lush moss and ferns. I waded through ankle deep to 5' deep water before diving in to each pool, swimming from one to the next. After plunging into the water I was able to float as if I was sitting upright in my very own Lazyboy. The wet suit I had on kept me nice and toasty and the dry bag with my tripod strapped to my back kept me from leaning back to far. Diving in and out of clear as glass pools and scaling limestone rock straight up waterfalls with water blasting in my face. This was no longer a photo trip, but instead an adventure that would take me through endless beauty as I ventured my way through the corridors of this lush canyon.