West Coast of Washington

[paul_chance]

<p>Hi All,</p>

<p>I am headed to Washington state in a few weeks and looking for suggestions on what to shoot. On my list so far is the rainforest and Olympic NP. Open to suggestion on great waterfalls and other cool scenic locations.<br>

Also, I love to find "hole in the wall" diners that are full of character and good food :)</p>

<p>I am leaving my big stuff at home and going to use my Fuji XP1 stuff.</p>

<p>Looking forward to your thoughts! Thanks, in advance!</p>

 

[david_henderson]

<p>Well its not exactly a wilderness experience but I've always liked the kind of beat-up, retro Aberdeen and Hoquiam area- and just the sort of place you'd find an old diner or cafe. Lots of old industrial bits, harbours and boats. Similar but not so run down is Astoria, just over a very photogenic bridge in Oregon, where you have remnants of old wooden piers and abandoned fish plants to play with. Best to stay near the lower end in Astoria for food too, because there isn't a top-end- I mean you can pay more money if you want, but the food's not much different. However the old jetty pilings, factories and bridge are worth it.</p>

<p>Away from the coast I like the Palouse but I'd want to be there in late April or May , and same with the rolling agricultural country around Walla Walla in the south of the State. I imagine its going to be a bit hot and dry for the best photography round there by late June/July but have a look on Flickr - they usually say when a photograph was taken give or take a bit of confusion with posting dates. If you do get to those areas go to Palouse Falls too. There's a lot of beat-up, dusty old towns in south-central Washington- eg Washtucna where not a lot seems to happen but its real time-gone-by stuff.</p>

<p>East of Seattle and not too far apart you have Snoqualmie Falls - worth a stop if you're going that way but not a journey- was featured in Twin Peaks many moons ago- and somewhere I think in Snoqualmie is the diner where Agent Cooper (aka Kyle McLachlan) used to get his cherry pie. Not far east is Roslyn, quite a funky little place and home of the external sequences in the series Northern Exposure. The bar known as the Brick is there and still functions, with a spittoon running the length of the bar -though they say its not used so much these days. Its the oldest bar in Washington apparently, and there's a lot of other old stuff there too -pretty good whether you recall the programme or not.<br>

<br /> In the northern part of the state, I rather like Port Townsend which still had a great old ice-cream bar when I was last there- and via ferry Coupeville on Whidby Island and La Conner on the mainland are interesting enough.<br>

<br /> I'll leave others more local to talk about the beaches with sea-stacks on the west coast and the waterfalls along the Columbia River though they're mostly on the Oregon side east of Portland. If you do go that way make sure you take the old road up the hill from Troutdale and you'll see a couple of good old country stores serving decent chili as well as the view I've posted below. I have a Pacific NW page on my site <a href="http://www.photography001.com">www.photography001.com</a> and maybe about half of that is potentially relevent to you.</p><div></div>

[paul_chance]

<p>Thanks, David- are you referring to the Historic Columbia River Hwy? Is this shot close to the bridge? I was planning on running by Multnomah Falls anyway so this doesn't seem out of the way.</p>

<p>We could probably make it to Aberdeen /Hoquiam for dinner.</p>

<p>BTW - great show! I looked your website - I like your style and agree many of the images cry out for mono.</p>

<p> </p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>Its not clear where your base is going to be for this trip, Paul, or how long you're going to be there. All of David H's locations are great places, but if you've only got a couple of days and you're staying in Seattle (for instance) then each of these would take all of a day, and potentially more. I'll add that the Olympic Peninsula itself is a wonderful trip, and you absolutely do need two or three days on that trip to get the value out of it. </p>

<p>Port Townsend is a great little town, and Sequim (pronounced Sqwim) just up the road is also very nice, with the Dungeness Spit as a good walking and photo location nearby. Port Angeles takes you to Hurricane Ridge, which is a must-see on a sunny day; and then of course once you're west of Port Angeles you are into some very undeveloped country on your way to the Hoh River rainforest and the beaches with sea stacks, easily seen from the road at Kallaloch and Ruby Beach. But if you get that far you'll need a place to stay, and there are some decent motels in Forks and good lodge right at Kallaloch, although I'd book in advance for that one.</p>

<p> </p>

[paul_chance]

<p>We are renting a house on the beach in MoClips and have some of the following as possible day trips (albiet some long)<br>

Sol Duc Falls<br />Hoh Rain Forest (Hall of Mosses Trail)<br />Hurricane Ridge<br />Ruby Beach for sunset or star photography<br />Cape Flattery for sunset<br />Reflection Lakes (Mt Rainier) - good for sunrise<br />Lava Canyon (Mt St. Helens)<br />copalis national wildlife (sunset - close to moclips)<br /><br /></p>

[SCL]

<p>I think you'll be plenty busy having just a couple of days. The sea stacks shot from beach #2 at La Push are pretty neat...it's about a 20 minute hike thru the forest to get there from your car. If you are in Seattle proper, down at the farmer's market 1 level below the market is a pretty colorful bar inhabited by some pretty colorful characters after 5pm (at least it was still there last time I visited a couple of years ago). As I recall there was a diner in Dungeness which served fresh crabs. Most of all, have a great trip...it is a beautiful area.</p>

[paul_chance]

<p>we will be there a week :)</p>

<p>Also, looking at the Point of the Arches but unsure if the sun sets with the leading lines of the rocks to the sea stacks during the summer. Also, looks like about a 3 mile in the sand to get to them - not sure the rest of the party will agree :) so i will probably forego this outstanding location.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Hadn't occurred to me that you'd be staying in one place. Some of the places you are indicating for eg dawn and sunset are IMO far too far away from your base. Suggest that a strategy of " how can I fill a week as close as I can to Moclips" is going to result in better and more photography, and a better time for all, than a philosophy of "where might I get to from here?" Which is one of the reasons why I move every two/three nights tops on a trip.</p>

[paul_chance]

<p>I'm combining a relaxing trip for the wife and sister in law with my photography - they wanted a remote location on the beach....</p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>If it were me, I'd pick one of those farther-away places like Hurricane ridge (a solid 4-hour drive) or Mt Rainier Ntl Park (3 to 4 hours) and do that, but I wouldn't try to do that every day. In my family I'd be an unwelcome person in any following vacation trips.</p>

<p>Hoh River valley, La Push and Kallaloch/Ruby Beach aren't too bad - under two hours although we always end up stopping a lot so it takes us longer. But after you hit the 101 along the beach all will be forgiven - its a beautiful drive.</p>

<p>The spit that is south of Ocean Shores is a very nice walk now that the road has been washed away, and it's only maybe a mile or so out to the end. And actually we really enjoyed Aberdeen last time we were there - a big/small town if you know what I mean.</p>

[paul_chance]

<p>Maybe I do Hurricane ridge on Monday and wait until Friday to do Mt Rainier - perhaps they wouldn't remember sitting in a car all day...</p>

<p>Another option is maybe just one night a Mt Rainer and get up for the sunrise shots to break up the long drive.</p>

[michael_chuang1]

<p>Another vote for Port Townsend as an interesting place to visit, and for Hurricane Ridge.</p>

<p>@David H: what a lovely and striking image!</p>

<p>@Paul: looking forward to not only your photos, but please pass along the names of any neat diners you come across.<br>

> use my Fuji XP1 stuff<br>

A bit of tele lens for animal portraits (looking at your portfolio) might be nice as well, I recall the birds and a number of 4-legged critters being remarkably (perhaps disturbingly) habituated to humans along the Hurricane Ridge drive and at the visitor center up top.</p>

[paul_chance]

<p>I will be also using my tiny V1 with a 70-200/2.8 on it for effective length of up to 510mm/2.8 with VR and AF.</p>

<p>I used my V1 on vacation last year and it did ok. I have a gallery on my web site in my profile called Western Alberta that shows what a "toy" camera can sometimes do :)</p>

[David_Cavan]

<p>Paul - Mt. Rainier at sunrise from the aptly-named Sunrise Visitor Center can take your breath away - just beautiful. Remember that at this time of the year that occurs very early in the morning though, and could involved an hour or so drive depending on where you're coming from.</p>

[jairorodriguez]

<p>Hi Paul, <br>

I recently put together two posts on my blog that may answer some of your questions about locations. One of them corresponds to beach locations, and the second one to the inland locations. Hope you can find some useful info!<br>

Here are the links to my blog Taming the light:<br>

http://www.jairophoto.com/blog/photography-of-olympic-national-park-the-woods/<br>

http://www.jairophoto.com/blog/photos-of-olympic-national-park-coast/</p>

<p>Cheers!</p>

<p>Jairo Rodriguez</p>

[paul_chance]

<p>Jairo,</p>

<p>Thanks for the links - Sol Duc looks great! we are looking forward to the trip! </p>

[User_6502147]

<p>Not sure if this is what you were looking for (Mt Rainier). First shot was taken near Chinook Pass....v. early. The second was from Gig Harbor (I think).</p>

<p>Enjoy your NW vacation.</p>

<p>Les</p><div></div>

[User_6502147]

<p>N/T</p><div></div>

[paul_chance]

<p>Please find a small group of nature pictures from our trip to the Olympic Peninsula. The pictures are located on my personal website (in my profile) under the WashingtonState gallery. Being a family vacation, I got to face the fun challenges of being places at poor times. It was great enjoying the sites with family though. </p>

<p>All taken with Fuji 18-55 and Nikon 105/4, except the on deer shot which was 70-200 on Nikon V1.</p>

<p> Feel free to add comments to any image by clicking “Add Comment” on the individual image page.</p>

<p> BTW, i see some people are able to type the url's directly in the post. I get error msgs when I try.<br>

I hope you enjoy.</p>

<p> </p>