Second Beach (Olympic National Park)

coscorrosa

Last Saturday the forecast looked promising for the coast, unfortunately I didn't find that out until late Friday night, so after a quick nap, I drove down to catch Ruby Beach at sunrise and sunset.

When I got to Ruby a few hours before sunrise, I noticed that the temporary river that formed the year before (after a storm in autumn) was back and much stronger and deeper than before, and while I could cross it then at medium tide, I wouldn't be able to when the tide was higher at sunrise (without getting significantly wet and it was only 30 degrees outside).

So... I drove like a madman to Second Beach and got there just in time for sunrise, and shot sunset there as well (there was no one else at the beach at sunrise, and only two non-photographers at sunset).

Sunrise:



Sunset - two different comps about 2 ft. away from each other.

Cameron

Wow, nice shots. I love the way the light accentuates the ripple-texture of the water/beach. The rock/earth in the foreground of #2 provides a fun balance between the two distance pieces of land - a nice and interesting composition.

TreyHoff

Great shots...especially no. 2. Seeing your shots of Second Beach (and previous posts) compelled me to locate it on the Olympic National Park's website map to get a sense of where it is. Now, what did you do between sunrise and sunset?

FLYING EYEBALL

Very nice

jackiejay

Loved these,One reminds me of something you would see in a movie.Its a beautiful set and very Beautiful place.

redleash

Beautiful shots and stories, Ron. #2 is my favorite--nice colors and the leading lines of the ripples from the rock into the shot work really well!

Lauren

Bryans12v

marvelous!

Worth the effort and great job!

schmoo

The colors of that sunset came out really nicely. It's so hard to get a real sunstar when it goes down like that! The clouds were definitely in your favor.

Doug Solis

Love the triad in #3, great foreground and balance with the two huge sea stacks, #4 is also a wonderful shot, both have a great golden leading lines to pull us through the images. I know what you mean about Ruby Beach river, I was there the third week of October just after a week + of rain and it was too swift for me to risk a crossing. Nice job making it down to second beach, it pays to know your areas.

Awais Yaqub

loved these, number 2 is my favorite!

ront

Love #2 and #3 Ron!!

Ron

Marc Muench

Good fun times and interesting images to show for it
That creek that runs through Ruby Beach was quite small when I was there in summer. It is hard to imagine it too big to cross.

Watch out for those non-photographers:D

dlplumer

Exquisite set

coscorrosa

FLYING EYEBALL wrote: »

Very nice

Thanks!

jackiejay wrote: »

Loved these,One reminds me of something you would see in a movie.Its a beautiful set and very Beautiful place.

Thanks - the Olympic coastline is really scenic, it's hard to screw it up, but many times of the year it's raining and overcast so it pays to pay attention to the forecast.

redleash wrote: »

Beautiful shots and stories, Ron. #2 is my favorite--nice colors and the leading lines of the ripples from the rock into the shot work really well!

Lauren

Thanks Lauren - I'm still undecided between #2 and #3 but it looks like most people prefer #2

Bryans12v wrote: »

marvelous!

Worth the effort and great job!

Thanks! Although it's not too much effort, you can get to Second Beach and Ruby Beach in less than 4 hours from Seattle (close compared to, say, Yellowstone which is 11 hours or Crater Lake which is 8 hours or Yosemite which is like 15 hours)

schmoo wrote: »

The colors of that sunset came out really nicely. It's so hard to get a real sunstar when it goes down like that! The clouds were definitely in your favor.

The 16-35 attracts good clouds, something that the 17-40 doesn't do

Doug Solis wrote: »

Love the triad in #3, great foreground and balance with the two huge sea stacks, #4 is also a wonderful shot, both have a great golden leading lines to pull us through the images. I know what you mean about Ruby Beach river, I was there the third week of October just after a week + of rain and it was too swift for me to risk a crossing. Nice job making it down to second beach, it pays to know your areas.

I could have made it if I had chest waders - which I definitely need to get because they would have been useful a few times (waterfall/stream shots mostly). Rubber boots are good enough for most situations on the beach. I heard a rumor that further south it's warm enough that they can get away with flip flops or barefoot!?

Second Beach and Ruby Beach are my two favorites, I haven't been to Shi-Shi yet though.

Awais Yaqub wrote: »

loved these, number 2 is my favorite!

Thanks Awais!

ront wrote: »

Love #2 and #3 Ron!!

Ron

Yeah, the sunset shots definitely have more pop to them than the sunrise shot (I still like the sunrise shot though)

TreyHoff wrote: »

Great shots...especially no. 2. Seeing your shots of Second Beach (and previous posts) compelled me to locate it on the Olympic National Park's website map to get a sense of where it is. Now, what did you do between sunrise and sunset?

I hung out on the beach awhile after sunrise, then walked back and drove to Rialto Beach (which is only 10 miles away), walked up and down it at high tide, went back to the car, took a 1-hour power nap, went into Forks for "dinner/breakfast/lunch", and then headed back to Second Beach and hung out until sunset

This time of year it's definitely quicker to do a sunrise + sunset combo than a sunset + sunrise combo.

CSwinton wrote: »

Wow, nice shots. I love the way the light accentuates the ripple-texture of the water/beach. The rock/earth in the foreground of #2 provides a fun balance between the two distance pieces of land - a nice and interesting composition.

Thanks!

coscorrosa

Marc Muench wrote: »

Good fun times and interesting images to show for it
That creek that runs through Ruby Beach was quite small when I was there in summer. It is hard to imagine it too big to cross.

Watch out for those non-photographers:D

Next time I'm going to have chest-waders and just go for it (that along with cold temps should ensure that I'm the only one there!). One of the things I like about beach photography is how dynamic it is, the tides and position of the sun give you a new experience with each visit.

Most non-photographers don't stick it out for sunset when it's 30 degrees out and they have to walk back in the dark, so I give these two a lot of credit

dlplumer wrote: »

Exquisite set

Thanks Danny!

bryanj87

Great job on these Ron. Glad to see those non-photographers stayed out of at least some of your shots!

ridgemac

Thanks for sharing the beauty. I hope to see it in person!

coscorrosa

bryanj87 wrote: »

Great job on these Ron. Glad to see those non-photographers stayed out of at least some of your shots!

That's one good thing about shooting at 16mm, even if they're in your shot they're no bigger than the 17 other dust spots you have to clone out

In my experience it's the photographers that tend to get in my way more often (and worse, they prevent me from getting in their way!)

ridgemac wrote: »

Thanks for sharing the beauty. I hope to see it in person!

The photos don't really do justice, it's so cool to be out there on the beach all by yourself at sunrise, you'll have a blast.

squirl033

nice, Ron... love the Second Beach shots, especially the sunset. i haven't been to Ruby since last spring, and then the stream was only a foot or so deep, shallow enough to wade easily if it'd been warmer. hard to believe it's deep enough now to need chest waders! i'm glad i got some of the shots i did last year, when the lagoon was still there and offering nice reflections...

i know what you mean about having the beach to yourself... i hit Second Beach last summer, and while there were some folks there when i arrived, they left as soon as the sun went below the horizon, and i had the beach to myself to shoot the most amazing sunset i've ever seen out there. i'd planned ahead and brought a flashlight for the hike back to the car, so leaving the beach at 10 PM didn't bother me...