The Wild Pacific II (Ruby and Second Beach, Olympic National Park)

coscorrosa · April 8, 2009

On Thursday morning, I noticed the weekend forecast was favorable for the beaches in Olympic National Park, and a few minutes later I booked a three night trip in Forks (in photographer terms, that means three sunsets and three sunrises).

I was armed with a new piece of important photography gear... rubber boots! No longer must I play victim to the tide! They really made a difference, sure a lot of the time the tripod wobbled and the pictures didn't come out, but they let me stay out there instead of run back and forth.

The light varied from average to awesome, with the best light being sunset at Ruby Beach on Sunday. It was high tide the entire time pretty much - which made it a bit more frantic.

I've shot these beaches several times (I think this was the fourth time I've been out there this year). I'm always amazed at how dynamic the landscapes are, there are so many variations between tide and light (often within an hour, let alone the trip), I always come back with something different. The long exposures can really create an impressionistic type feel to the photos.

Note: No vampires or werewolves were harmed during the taking of these photos.

Here are some of my favorites, it was hard to narrow it down to 15. Note that I blistered through the processing on these so I probably screwed up on some of them. They're all single exposures except #3. Most of them were shot with a 2-stop GND and a polarizer. Some of the night/silhouette shots were several minutes.

#1:

#2:

#3:

#4:

#5:

#6:

#7:

#8:

#9:

#10:

#11:

#12:

#13:

#14:

#15:

And now your video part of the presentation. Note that these are after peak light, my purpose is to take photographs, not videos, but the videos are kind of fun after I'm done

Ruby Beach at sunrise:
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Here's one of Second Beach at sunrise:
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anwmn1 · April 8, 2009

#10 and #13 really stand out to me.

I think you can and will improve #1 and #3

Very nice stuff as usual

CWSkopec · April 8, 2009

anwmn1 wrote:

#10 and #13 really stand out to me.

I think you can and will improve #1 and #3

Very nice stuff as usual

completely!!

In addition, I really like the patterns in the foreground of #7, I just wish there was something more interesting in the top portion of the image.

Awesome work, Ron!!

Chrissiebeez_NL · April 8, 2009

what a way to spend a morning!

Great shots, love them all!

Awais Yaqub · April 8, 2009

Great job as always !

hawkeye978 · April 8, 2009

Great shots, especially the sequence from #10 through #13. Are you using hard edge GND?

kdog · April 8, 2009

I love the muted pastel colors in these shots. So much so, that #6 and #12 almost look out of place in the series because they don't have them, even though they are stunning images in their own right. I also like the textures of the water you managed to capture.

BTW, #3 looks great to me just the way it is. Number #11 looks like an oil painting to me and I keep being drawn to it. 13, 14, heck, all of them are excellent.

Anyway, really great shots, Ron. It's always a pleasure to view your work.

-joel

jeffmeyers · April 8, 2009

#s 2, 5, 7, 10, and 13 are stunning!

thumb

coscorrosa · April 8, 2009

anwmn1 wrote:

#10 and #13 really stand out to me.

I think you can and will improve #1 and #3

Very nice stuff as usual

Thanks Aaron - I agree that #3 can be improved, the contrast ratio was ridiculous, I tried three 2-stop brackets with a 2-stop and 3-stop GND filter both, and I still didn't get it like I wanted it. The only way to do it justice to what I actually saw with my eye would require masking, etc., and I'm too lazy for that (for now). I like #1 as-is, though I noticed it didn't look as good on another monitor.

coscorrosa · April 8, 2009

hawkeye978 wrote:

Great shots, especially the sequence from #10 through #13. Are you using hard edge GND?

Most of these were with a 2-stop soft GND, actually the only one that was 3-stop hard was #13, the rest had no GND filter or the 2-stop soft. #12 had an 8-stop ND filter with a 2-stop soft GND.

coscorrosa · April 8, 2009

kdog wrote:

I love the muted pastel colors in these shots. So much so, that #6 and #12 almost look out of place in the series because they don't have them, even though they are stunning images in their own right. I also like the textures of the water you managed to capture.

BTW, #3 looks great to me just the way it is. Number #11 looks like an oil painting to me and I keep being drawn to it. 13, 14, heck, all of them are excellent.

Anyway, really great shots, Ron. It's always a pleasure to view your work.

-joel

Thanks Joel! I lucked out with that sunset at Ruby Beach.

Here's a couple more oil-painting type shots, all of these were taken within a span of about 5 minutes.

coscorrosa · April 8, 2009

Thanks for the comments everyone!

riddim_maker · April 9, 2009

These images bring back memories of my 2005 trip to Washington state.
How I wish I knew then what I know now :cry
Anyway, you did a fine job capturing this magnificent coastline

Thanks for sharing.

bryanj87 · April 9, 2009

I never grow tired of your shots from the Olympic Peninsula. Great series.

squirl033 · April 9, 2009

more good stuff, Ron... i love that part of the coast, gotta get back out there again soon.

Pexi · April 9, 2009

Great photos, all of them!

The black hooded figure staring out to the see in #4... scary vision... are you sure about those vampires?

coscorrosa · April 9, 2009

riddim_maker wrote:

These images bring back memories of my 2005 trip to Washington state.
How I wish I knew then what I know now :cry
Anyway, you did a fine job capturing this magnificent coastline
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Russ! I'm like you - there's a lot of places I visited before I was into photography that I would like to return now that I know a little more (not much, just a little). I'm fortunate enough to have this place in my backyard (my backyard is any place I can drive to and from in a day and not fall asleep in either direction - so about 300 miles each way

).

coscorrosa · April 9, 2009

bryanj87 wrote:

I never grow tired of your shots from the Olympic Peninsula. Great series.

Thanks Bryan, I never get tired of taking them, so that's good. I was looking for some Bzdula Beams (tm) but didn't catch any, maybe next time.

coscorrosa · April 9, 2009

Pexi wrote:

Great photos, all of them!

The black hooded figure staring out to the see in #4... scary vision... are you sure about those vampires?

Oh, I'm sure they were there, they just didn't go after me. Interestingly, when I took that photo, I noticed a pair of eyes in the woods that lit up every time my head lamp faced that direction. It was too dark to see what they belonged to but they were tracking me (the only person on the beach then) the whole time. So, probably a vampire, that's the only rational explanation.

Dooginfif20 · April 9, 2009

Breathtaking Ron! I see littler minor things on a few (horizon off a little) but your work is always amazing! I think 7, 12 and 13 are just amazing! I am a sucker for long exposure and have done a few so far. Would you suggest a ND filter for these?

Abiciriderback · April 9, 2009

Ron

Another gorgeous series everyone is a very worthy image great colors and comps. Coming up not only the coast but get to look forward to June in the Palouse gotta start taking the long routes to my accounts in Yakima, Othello and Spokane.

Ray Still

coscorrosa · April 10, 2009

Dooginfif20 wrote:

Breathtaking Ron! I see littler minor things on a few (horizon off a little) but your work is always amazing! I think 7, 12 and 13 are just amazing! I am a sucker for long exposure and have done a few so far. Would you suggest a ND filter for these?

Thanks! A grad ND filter, yes, a regular ND filter, no. I use a grad ND filter all the time (along with a polarizer). Often a polarizer will darken by about 2-3 stops anyway, so you can often use it as a quasi-ND filter. I've been using my 2-stop soft a lot more than my 3-stop hard lately.

coscorrosa · April 10, 2009

Abiciriderback wrote:

Ron

Another gorgeous series everyone is a very worthy image great colors and comps. Coming up not only the coast but get to look forward to June in the Palouse gotta start taking the long routes to my accounts in Yakima, Othello and Spokane.

Ray Still

I've never photographed the Palouse or Eastern Washington but I definitely want to. It always seems like once winter is over there's no rest until the next winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall are so busy around here. But that's a good problem to have.

Matt S · April 11, 2009

#13 made me just plain stop and admire. All of them a great and several worth of large print. But 13 well........damn that's good.

jopapeca · April 11, 2009

Great series, love the #6.

Picture North Carolina · April 11, 2009

The blue / trees is very nice. Good work.

Marc Muench · April 11, 2009

Ron,

Of all the images I have seen from you in the past year #2 is IMO something quite unique

thumb

Yes many of your images are truly spectacular but this mood is part of the truth of the hours you have been looking through the lens, way to go

Tango · April 11, 2009

coscorrosa wrote:

#13:

IM IN AWE

coscorrosa · April 11, 2009

Marc Muench wrote:

Ron,

Of all the images I have seen from you in the past year #2 is IMO something quite uniquethumb

Yes many of your images are truly spectacular but this mood is part of the truth of the hours you have been looking through the lens, way to go

Thanks Marc - much appreciated!

coscorrosa · April 11, 2009

AaronNelson wrote:

IM IN AWE

Thanks, I was lucky, I kept hoping for some cool patterns in the foreground with those rocks and the incoming/receding waves. Here's another shot taken thirty seconds earlier:

Dooginfif20 · April 12, 2009

coscorrosa wrote:

Thanks! A grad ND filter, yes, a regular ND filter, no. I use a grad ND filter all the time (along with a polarizer). Often a polarizer will darken by about 2-3 stops anyway, so you can often use it as a quasi-ND filter. I've been using my 2-stop soft a lot more than my 3-stop hard lately.

You will have to forgive me on my lack of knowledge but what is the advantage of using a ND filter? I use a CP filter and I love what it does to the blues. Is it just do a I can expose longer and get less light?

The Wild Pacific II (Ruby and Second Beach, Olympic National Park)

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