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Greetings,
Well, happy beginning of pre-spring!
If you're planning on coming out to the Olympic Peninsula this summer, keep reading, I've got some important info for you.
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Olympic National Park
I have a fond spot in my heart for ONP. You see, the reason I got interested in seriously photographing is because of Olympic National Park.
Back in the mid-80s there was a regional magazine called “Peninsula Magazine,” and nearly every cover image was a scene from the Olympic backcountry, photographed by a Sequim-based photographer name Ross Hamilton (Several years later, I took a series of workshops from him in Olympic National Park).
Anyway, I saw those images and I WANTED TO GO THERE!!
 I learned about backpacking, geared up, and went. And of course, if one is going to go backpacking one wants pictures. And so, I brought a small camera with me, as one does.
This camera was an old Pentax compact camera that my mother had given me. It had settings for ISO, aperture, focus, etc. I knew what ISO did. And focus. So off I went with my little camera in an easy-to-reach pocket in my pack and visions of big, impressive prints on my walls.
I fell in love with the Olympics on these trips, and some of the pictures turned out nice. Some, not so nice. But I wanted those wall worthy pictures that captured what I was seeing, and I reasoned that if I only had a better camera, I would get better pictures.
Right.
That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works.
So I started taking a nature photography class at my local community college. And it just snowballed from there.
Olympic National Park is still close to my heart; it’s definitely my favorite park and feels like a friend. And I really enjoy introducing folks to my favorite park. That’s probably why my favorite workshop is Olympic National Park.
This May I’ll be leading my…..I’ve lost count how many... workshop to Olympic! The dates are May 16-21 and I still have a few openings. Why not join me and let me introduce you to my friend?
Learn more on my Olympic workshop page.
The mountain and stream picture above is from Cameron Basin, deep in Olympic National Park. It was made in 1992 with a Nikon 8008s SLR (film) camera and probably a 24mm lens. This was a few years after the compact camera days.
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Hood Canal Bridge closures this summer
Speaking of Olympic National Park…
If you’re planning a trip to visit Olympic National Park in late July or August of this year, there is a road closure you’re going to want to know about.
Starting on the last weekend in July and for the next three weekends, the Hood Canal Bridge (HWY 104), which links the Kitsap Peninsula to the Olympic Peninsula, will be close to all traffic.
The bridge is the quickest way to get from Seattle to the Olympic Peninsula, especially if you’re planning on visiting Port Townsend, Sequim/Port Angeles areas, and the Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent, and Sol Duc areas.
There are some other projects going on in the area that might cause some delay too, but it’s those bridge closures that will add significant time to any drive to the peninsula. Fortunately, I already live on the peninsula, relatively close to the bridge, so I'll have the place all to myself!
You can get more information from this article on the Peninsula Daily News site.
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Maven filters should be in my hands by mid-month!
I’m getting excited to get my hands on these new filters that I wrote about back in November. I should have them by the middle of the month (about a week from this writing).
I'm especially looking forward to using the neutral density filters in a more efficient way. As you may know, it gets to be a pain trying to set up a composition with 10-stops of neutral density filter screwed into the end of your lens. With these magnetic filters I'll be able to set the composition and just pop the filter on. No more screwing around with screw in filters!
If you’re interested in knowing more about these filters, the Maven Filters website is now up and running. It’s still a work in progress; they’ve been very busy fulfilling Kickstarter rewards (like mine!).
I hope I really like these filters. I’ll certainly let you know!
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Openings in both Sitka March and August trips
There is still a space available in my March Sitka tour, where we’ll be photographing Humpback whiles Bubble-net feeding.
There are also spaces available in my August Sitka Whales and More tour where we’ll photograph whales, otters, fishing boats, landscapes, and more. We may even site some Coastal Brown Bears along a beach. We had really good luck with that last year.
To learn more about the March trip, click here.
And to learn more about the August trip, click here.
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Opening in Yellowknife second tour
I’ve just had an opening in my Sept. 18-25 Aurora tour in Yellowknife. There are also openings in the Sept. 10-17 tour.
There's no real difference between the two. I suspect the fall color to be good no matter which tour you choose. Plus, we're heading directly into the peak of the sun cycle so auroras are just going to get better and better.
Frankly, I've never really had a bad year for auroras in Yellowknife. Being directly under the auroral oval means that you'll see good auroras in any year. In fact, some of the best aurora storms I've seen have been in years where the sun cycle was in a low activity phase. And actually, the high activity phase means that auroras will be more likely to be seen farther south too.
So the bottom line: Yellowknife is a great place to see auroras in any year. We just may get more frequent and more intense activity in the next few years.
For more information on these tours, visit the Aurora Tour page of my workshops website.
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Bosque and White Sands
Registration is open for both the Bosque National Wildlife Refuge workshop (birds, birds, birds) and White Sands National Park workshop. I’m co-leading both of these trips with Cliff Zenor.
Bosque is simply a spectacle. Thousands of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes, along with other birds, and gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.
White Sands is a stark and beautiful landscape made of subtlety and curves, mixed with the sharp edges of the Soaptree yucca plants. It's a great place to hone your landscape photography skills and absorb the meaning of "simplicity."
Learn more about Bosque here.
And learn more about White Sands here.
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In Closing
Hopefully I’ll have a chance to take those new filters out for a ride before the next newsletter. Either way, I’ll give you my first impressions.
Until then, keep warm and stay safe!
I'll just leave you with this picture of a giant metal chicken.
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