Hello friends. Welcome to Spring.
As I write this, I’m busy preparing for TWO presentations at the Nature Photographer’s of the Pacific Northwest spring meeting (NPPNW.org). I will be presenting a talk on personal photography projects and then a talk about photographing forests. I’m nervous, but have wanted to be on the main stage of a photo conference for years. Practice will help calm my nerves.
It's been a busy winter into spring for me. I spent a weekend in Port Angeles during the polar freeze. After driving through snow and ice, I arrived at little cottage I had rented for the weekend. Took me 5 hours to drive what normally takes me about 45 minutes. YIKES! Glorious and frigid days during the weekend leant to beautiful winter images. After that chill, there wasn’t much snowfall -I never got to use my new cross-country skis or snowshoes once this year. Leaves me open for more adventures next year and with my trusty Sam the Subaru, I’ll be ready for them. The beginning of March found me on a road trip kinda for work.
I drove to San Francisco for our trade conference, but had decided that my drive would be used for my business and did some portfolio building in the Redwoods and along Highway 1. Let me tell you, I have driven Highway 1 on numerous occasions and I am still blown away by the beauty - and a little taken aback by the fact that people drive this road at 50+ miles per hour. There were a couple of curves that put my heart into my throat and I pulled aside to try to breathe normally again. My stay in the Redwoods was inspiring and began planning a return trip for next spring as I watched elk graze in the meadow across from my tent - luckily not as close as the elk got to my tent in the Hoh campground several years ago. While camping, I even bumped into a co-worker who was on a road trip with a friend. Neither of us knew the other would be at that campground but so happy I ran into him. Chatting with him and his friend made the night less cold.
No sooner did I return then my spring activiies started. First on the agenda was a solo backpack trip on the Ozette Triangle. Good little shake down trip where I forgot my headlamp and charger for my handheld video camera. I also broke down with a good ugly cry in the middle of the beach. I had chatted with a young woman who was also doing a solo trip (I got to talk to Katie much longer the second night and she is quite an inspiration) and felt sorry for my younger self who was too afraid and anxious to do anything like this. In fact, this was only my 3rd solo backpack. About 20 years ago I attempted to backpack the Ozette Triangle - I showed up at camp, set up my tent, walked the beach, tore down camp, and went home without even staying one night. So they were also ugly tears of happiness that I was able to make the decision to hike it by myself.
The Othello Sandhill Crane festival was the next weekend. Three days of birding. I came home 1,165 photos and have been able to narrow them down to about 150. WHEW! Through the cursory editing process, I have several that I’m proud of. After the presentations, a trip to Bryce Canyon with friends is in the works. Coming up is a season of camping trips, both front-country and backcountry.
Your photo tip of the season. This is something I’m sharing with the NPPNW attendees - how to show scale when photographing large trees. I love big trees and will often point my camera at them and their grandeur. But with so many grandiose subject, showing the the immense power of the subject can be difficult especially on a small phone screen. Try to add a known element, often man-made, to help demonstrate the size. In the photos above, a car and a road help to show that these trees in the Redwoods are grand beyond our knowledge. Next time you’re confronted with showing the grandeur of a subject or scene, try adding a known human element.
As we enter the season of longer days, I have tons of photos and videos to edit. Keep stopping by the socials to see how that’s going. If you’re wondering how the show went in February, it was a smashing success. Thank you everyone who showed up during the month and especially to those who bought a print or more. You made a dream come true a dream indeed.
Good bye and I will see you on the next adventure.