One more trip to the Olympic Peninsula under my belt, and I am already looking forward to next year. For landscape photographers, this locale offers an incredible diversity of subjects and the opportunity to practice utilizing a variety of photographic techniques. We broke out the filters, practiced our focus peaking, played with focus stacking and did a little exposure bracketing along the way. These tools, however, will only go so far if you aren’t willing to get up early and stay out late for the best light and fewer crowds.
I must admit, this area does seem to throw curve balls more than other places where I lead photo tours. Once we arrived in Port Angeles, we discovered that due to a spill into a tributary of the Elwha River, there was a temporary water emergency in the area. Hurricane Ridge was also temporarily closed. We shifted our plans a bit, and the group was open and willing to pivot. All things worked out; the water emergency ended quickly, and Hurricane Ridge opened soon thereafter. I was incredibly appreciative that this group of 5 was so flexible and accepting of the situation. It absolutely set the tone for the rest of our journey.
Instead of starting at Hurricane Ridge the first full morning, we were off to visit the Sol Duc Valley and venture out to Sol Duc Falls. Virtually every morning on this trip is an early one, so we left in the dark and arrived at the trailhead just as it was light enough to see. This put us at the falls well before any others, and we had the place to ourselves for a few hours before things started to get busy. It is key to be set up before the sunlight hits the water surface to get the most out of our long exposure photography. We had enough time to photograph from different angles, giving us a variety of compositions.
Once we had our fill of long exposure waterfall images, we moved upriver and added polarizers for forest scenes or neutral density filters for more images of moving water along the river’s edge. There was a plethora of compositional opportunities here, and we spent the better part of the morning exploring what the area had to offer. Once things started getting busier with people, we packed up and made our way back toward the parking lot, stopping for images along the way. Once back at the car, we took a few moments to grab a snack then piled into the van and headed down valley. We made a stop at another beautiful, forested area before lunch, then went back to the hotel for some well-deserved down time before heading out for our evening shoot.
Given that we are a hop, skip and a jump away from Washington state’s epicenter of lavender farms, we took the evening to have a private after hours visit to one of my favorites. It was definitely a different kind of photography from the morning, so we took a few moments to adjust our cameras (and our creative brain cells) before jumping into a bit of flower photography. There was a small breeze, so we needed a higher shutter speed and with a polarizer, we needed to let in more light. Good practice for us all to get the exposures right. We were working on images that included larger fields as well as individual flower stalks. It was challenging but fun, and a good first crack at it, as we would visit another farm later in the week. This was certainly a solid first day and a long one, so we headed back for a short, but sweet night’s sleep.
As the Hurricane Ridge area was still closed the following morning, we set off for Marymere Falls and the beautiful trails near Lake Crescent Lodge. Again, starting out before light, we were on the trail well before anyone else. We went straight for the falls and again had it to ourselves for most of two hours before anyone else showed up. This gave us plenty of time to reposition for composition and ample space for our tripods without feeling crowded in the small viewing area. The soft, even light of the morning also gave us another opportunity to practice some of the techniques we had introduced the day before. When the area started to get busy with other visitors, it was time to pack up and photograph our way back down the trail. One of our group spotted a unique flower along the way – Indian Pipe or Ghost Flower – so we had to take some time to capture a few images. It is one of a relatively small group of plants that do not produce chlorophyll but get their sustenance through the mycorrhizal network in the soil. Great find! Oh, and on our way out, we met a group of folks who had discovered a Barred Owl. We didn’t have much time with it but were able to get a shot or two before it flew off into the dense forest. Another great find!
We stopped on our way back to the hotel for a nice picnic lunch and discovered that the Park Service had re-opened Hurricane Ridge, so our evening plans were set. After a few hours to recharge batteries and catch a few winks, we had an early dinner and made our way up the road. Before settling into some larger sunset landscape shooting, we discovered some Columbia Tiger Lilies still blooming near the road. Finding a good place to pull off, we took a little bit of time to photograph these lovely orange beauties. Then of course, we were off to capture some sunset images. This was a great evening to practice using our graduated neutral density filters and to attempt some images shooting directly toward the sun. I think we all captured some scenes we liked and had some new techniques to utilize the next morning when we returned here for sunrise. With another great day done, we called it a night.
The difference is amazing in the quality and tone of the light from sunset to sunrise. We left the hotel well before dawn to be in place for blue hour back up in the high country near Hurricane Ridge. There was a sea of clouds blanketing the landscape below, but in the east, we could see the silhouette of the North Cascades. It was a perfect morning to photograph into the rising sun. Before the sun actually crested the horizon, the landscape below us slowly transformed into a beautiful scene of blue layers fading into the distance with the reds and oranges of sunrise painting the sky beyond the mountains. It was quite the morning!
Once the sun was up and we were ready to move on, we shifted on down to the end of the road and spent a few hours with the wildflowers still gracing the subalpine meadows. We had to finally tear ourselves away and head back to the hotel to pack up and move out to the coast. We stopped to have a lovely lunch at Lake Crescent Lodge, then continued on to get settled into our hotel for the next few nights. We had a little down time before dinner and our evening out on Rialto Beach. The sun did not make an appearance for us this evening, so we practiced some of the techniques we used photographing waterfalls and did some long exposure surf shots. We had a nice evening out on the beach but decided to call it a bit early so everyone could get some shut eye, as the following morning would be our earliest yet.
The Hoh Rainforest is a must-see location in Olympic National Park. It is an area where the trees drip with mosses and green saturates the senses. Our goal this morning was to spend time along the Hall of Mosses trail before it got too busy. It is one of the most-walked trails in the park with some 2500 people each day of the summer walking the one-mile loop. It was certainly nice to have it to ourselves for the first few hours before it got crowded. Polarizing filters and HDR was the name of the game today. The contrast in this heavily shaded forest on a sunny day can make for some challenging lighting situations. We made the most of our time before the sun got high, then spent time looking more closely for small scenes that would help tell the story of this forest. An encounter with an iconic creature of this area – a banana slug – was a nice addition to our collection of images. After another nice picnic, we headed back to the lodge to kick our feet up before dinner, then off we went to Ruby Beach for the evening. We had broken clouds this evening, but not enough clearing for the sunset colors to be bright. It was nice to have some definition in the clouds and a few sea stacks as subjects. As the evening progressed, we got a bit of subtle color in the sky and some interesting soft wave action around the rocks and stacks near shore. All in all, it was a good evening.
The next morning, we discovered there would be a low tide if we wanted to try tide pools. It is not often that our trips coincide with these tidal conditions. So, we pushed breakfast a bit earlier, packed up and made our way back to Ruby Beach for one of the lowest tides I had seen there. It was fun poking around the rocks and pools to see what lives just below the waves. We found sea stars, anemones, barnacles, snails, and crabs. A polarizing filter is key here, and we certainly used it. It was also fun to play with a little focus stacking to get some good crisp images. We stayed for a few hours, but the tide was pushing us out, so we packed up and headed back toward Port Angeles for our final night. We checked in, had a little down time, then traveled back to the lavender farms of Sequim to try our hand at photographing a different farm at a different time of day. A few hours and some lavender lemonade or ice cream later, we were back at the hotel for dinner before making our second visit to Hurricane Ridge for sunset. This evening, we chose a few different locations for large landscape scenes and focused on shooting with the sun at our backs. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the valleys became blue and the clouds a palette of pastel pinks and purples. It was a nice way to say goodbye to the place.
On our final morning, most of the group decided to sleep in and prepare for their travels home. There was, however, one intrepid soul who accompanied me out for one last shoot. It was a good choice. We had some fabulous clouds below us and found a spot along the road where we could see Mt Rainier in the distance. It was awesome! Again, we captured the blues in the foreground and the oranges, yellows and pinks of the sunrise beyond the mountains. After the sun made its appearance, we went up to the top with just enough time to catch some color over the Olympic Mountains to our south. A fantastic last morning in Olympic National Park, and the reason I always look forward to returning year after year.
