This was my first time ever shooting anything remotely like this, if that's not obvious by the results
There is SO much chaos going in every direction, so direct and obvious compositions are very hard to come by. At sunrise, it's quite hard to shoot upwards and not get a pretty harsh sky through the growth.
I decided to embrace the mess and showcase the Hoh how I found her...bathed in insane golden green light, with something to see at every angle. Hopefully these impart a bit of that feeling of a moment of calm inside total chaos.
Shot with the Nikon Zf, Tamron 16-30, Nikon 24-120, and TTArtisan 40 AF
Very nice job storytelling with these images. I'd love to visit someday but I've seen some reels of the line to get in and it looks shall we say, crowded. How did you find it?
Ross Martin wrote:
Scott, I think you did very well for your first time there, reacting to what was calling you. I like them all and find #8 has a special vibe.
Thanks Ross! I went out of my way not to look at other photography from it before we went so that I'd just shoot as called, as you said. Now I need to see what's actually possible with some planning
dakel wrote:
Very nice job storytelling with these images. I'd love to visit someday but I've seen some reels of the line to get in and it looks shall we say, crowded. How did you find it?
Thank you Derrick! So right now, Olympic NP is technically "closed" due to the government shutdown. The north entrance in Port Angeles was hard closed just past the entrance/pay stations. We ran into a couple out there who said they had come east from Hoh and found it completely open and accessible, so we took a flyer and made the drive west (about an hour and a half).
We stayed the night in Forks, and got up before sunrise to head into the park. As they said, it was indeed fully open, and we were the 3rd car in the parking lot. We saw 2 other people hiking in the first hour we were there.
I have never had an experience quite like that at any national park in the last 10 years that we've been going...Olympic being our 23rd national park visited. I had read that mornings before/during sunrise tend to be quiet and the park gets busy after 8:30am or so...it didn't seem to wake up till about 10am that morning as we were heading out.
Been there twice and a beautiful and frustrating place to shoot. You did well with everything you faced and I am especially fond the light you found in #8 your series.
Al Trujillo wrote:
Been there twice and a beautiful and frustrating place to shoot. You did well with everything you faced and I am especially fond the light you found in #8 your series.
Glad to hear I wasn't the only frustrated one Thanks Al!
Scott, thanks for refreshing my memory — I walked the same trail you did. Capturing forest scenes is always challenging, and rainforests even more so with all their natural chaos. But you’ve managed to create some truly beautiful compositions and caught some lovely light. On #5, the bottom fern feels a bit off, but overall it’s a very strong and enjoyable set. Thanks for sharing!
keepclicking wrote:
Scott, thanks for refreshing my memory — I walked the same trail you did. Capturing forest scenes is always challenging, and rainforests even more so with all their natural chaos. But you’ve managed to create some truly beautiful compositions and caught some lovely light. On #5, the bottom fern feels a bit off, but overall it’s a very strong and enjoyable set. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the feedback, glad to hear you enjoyed it, especially as someone that has seen it firsthand
