Sunday, September 18, 2011

Back From the Wild Northwest

I just returned from a long-planned trip up to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, with it's rain forests, waterfalls and gorgeous beaches. So I should, at last, have a flurry of new work to show over the next few weeks.
We had been to the area only once before briefly on the way to Canada, so it was a little familiar, but my wife and I have wanted for years to spend some real time exploring up there.  We made sure to stay in a central location that would allow access to the whole peninsula each day without having to change lodgings all the time, and I think that worked out pretty well.  The weather was not quite as cooperative as I would have hoped.. we had clear blue skies inland most days (who would have thought, in this most rainy part of the country) until the last two days, and that made shooting in the rainforest a little difficult.. lots of hot spots from the sun in the otherwise deep shade; then the opposite with heavy fog at the ocean, some nights so thick that you couldn't even see the water from a few feet away.  But, hey, that's nature for you.  All in all we had a great time and I did manage to catch some good new material... and very different subject matter for me. The whole area has such a different vibe to it, compared to the desert and mountain scenery that I usually work with here in the southwest corner.
The above shot is right near the ocean at Kalaloch...(can you tell where the ocean is, based on the shape of the trees?).. it was a very foggy shot as exposed, and that was my intention, but with a little contrast boost while playing around, most of the fog disappeared and I kind of prefer the detail in the main tree now with just a hint of fog around the edges. Experimenting with different interpretations is always the most fun part for me.. also, this one may well end up with in monochrome.. after a quick look I like it that way too.

3 comments:

Gaelyn said...

I haven't been to the PNW in Way too long. Something about the gray and rain that makes everything SO green. Hope you'll be sharing more soon.

Unknown said...

Hey Mark,

I'm so happy to see some new work from you.
A friend of mine travelled to ONP in august and he also complains about blue skies :)

I love this misty greenery.
I'm not sure for the trees but i would guess that wind comes from the ocean.

I also play with mist for a few weeks and it looks like that my processing choices are similar to yours...

I hope life and business are going well also.

Patrick

RWS said...

beautiful scene