Photographing the Oregon Coast!

“Wake,” 2004, by Richard Serra, installation at the Seattle Art Museum’s sculpture garden in downtown Seattle. This is an iPhone photograph. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

A NORTHWEST PHOTOGRAPHIC ODYSSEY

I’ve just concluded a fantastic two-week photographic safari of the Pacific Northwest. It’s been a trip of cities (Portland and Seattle), ocean coastlines and deep woods as we looped up through Portland and Seattle before camping down the Oregon coast.

Koi fish tail, Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

Koi fish tails, Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

A single fallen leaf disturbs the visual symmetry inside the Sand and Stone Garden at the Portland Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon, July 24, 2015. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

The plan was to start in Portland, sightseeing for a couple of days before heading straight up to Seattle, then a big loop by Mt. Ranier National Park, Mt. St. Helens and on to the northwest Oregon coast, beginning in Astoria, the winter resting spot of Lewis and Clark.

On a blustery and foggy day, Mt. Rainier shows itself for a mere 10 minutes before the fog socked everything back in July 26, 2015. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

A marmot nibbles on wildflower delicacies next to a trail used by hikers in Mt. Rainier National Park July 29, 2015. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

Alpine meadows with afternoon fog, Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

For a photographer who loves photographing water and coastlines the way I do, this really was an ideal trip. My wife loves to camp, too, so after our city visits we began a week of camping and photographing down the Oregon coast.

My usual shooting routine still applied on this trip: get up early, early, before the sun. Shoot from “first light” till the sun begins to hit things. Then, it’s time for breakfast and whatever else is planned.

Pacific Coast low tide, Oceanside, Oregon. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

Deer tracks, low tide beach at dawn, Oceanside, Oregon. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

Pacific Ocean at dawn near Otter Rock, Oregon. (Photo copyright 2015/ Andrew Boyd)

Driftwood log, Neptune Beach, Oregon coast. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

Pacific Ocean rock formations, Otter Rock, Oregon, at dawn. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

There’s a wonderful morning fog that usually builds in from the ocean along the Oregon beaches in the morning. This was true on all but our last shooting day, when the fog stuck around almost all day. It never rained, so I never lucked into any opportunities for awful weather shooting; but the all-day fog was a close second.

Fog rolls into the Oregon coast north of Florence, Oregon. (Photo copyright 2015 / Andrew Boyd)

Hi, I’m Andrew Boyd, a.k.a. The Discerning Photographer, and I hope this post has been interesting and informative. Please leave me a comment about it, let me know what you’d like to see more of on the site! You can also sign up for email delivery of all future articles or my RSS feed. Or subscribe to our Facebook page ,Google+ page or our Twitter feed. Thanks!–DiscerningPhotog