Hurricane ridge, Olympic Peninsula

Equipment: Canon 5D Mark 2, Canon 100-400mm
Image details: 200mm, f/8, 1/500sec, ISO 400

Hurricane ridge is my favorite place in the Olympic Peninsula. The top of the ridge at about 5200' offers spectacular views of Mount Olympus and the Lillian Ridge. The surrounding fields are usually full of wildflowers taking advantage of the brief growing season.The view is different in every season - winter, spring and summer. Wildlife is abundant around the ridge - black tail deer, mule deer, marmots can be found in the meadows around the ridge.

Hurricane ridge is about an hours drive from Port Angeles. There is a visitor center at the bottom on the ridge and also at the top of the ridge. The visitor center at the bottom of the ridge is larger and also has a naturalist display that is very interesting. The winding road to hurricane ridge has numerous vista points where you can pull off the road and enjoy spectacular views of the Strait of Juan De Fuca. On a clear day you can see Mt Baker and the Dungeness spit lighthouse.

Spring is one of the best times to shoot at the ridge - its wildflower season and the Lupines and Avalanche lilies are in full bloom. There is a the short hike to hurricane hill from the parking lot. All along the trail you will be treated to sweeping panoramic views of the Olympic mountains. I like to use the lupines as foreground to compose some shots of the Olympic mountains. In summer the best time to shoot is before 8 am or after 8 pm. In early morning sometimes a fog drifts in which can make for some interesting compositions. For more information about the trails around hurricane ridge refer to the following website.

Equipment: Canon 5D Mark 2, Canon 100-400mm
Image details: 400mm, f/5.6, 1/500sec, ISO 400

Sunset is traditionally hard to shoot from the ridge because the valley gets into shadow when the peaks are well lit. The best time to shoot is a little before sunset when the valley is not completely in shadow. There are usually deer hanging out in the meadow - I like to use them in my composition. A neutral density filter is very useful here since the peaks are usually 2-3 stops brighter than the valley. If I don't have moving wildlife in my shot I tend to not use the neutral density filter but shoot at different exposures which I can HDR later.

A wide to medium zoom is very useful for this shot - I most commonly use my Canon 24-70 at this spot. I like to use a longer lens like the Canon 100-400 to isolate the deer against the ridge. The ridge is usually windy at the best of times, I always carry a windbreaker and a cap.

The obstruction point road starts from the top of hurricane ridge. This is a narrow single lane dirt road with a steep drop off on the side. This is not for the light of heart! I have heard from friends that there is a Marmot colony at the end of the road but not been there myself.

Fort Ward State park, Bainbridge island

Fort Ward State park is located on the south western side of Bainbridge island.One gloomy saturday afternoon in winter I was perusing Google maps looking for a place to shoot sunset. I haven't done much photography on Bainbridge island and Fort Ward looked reasonably close to the Seattle-Bainbridge island ferry terminal. For more information on the park refer to Washington state park web site.

After a long confusing ride (GPS is supposted to make your life easier!) I arrived at the park. Unfortunately it was pouring rain. After waiting for a few minutes for the rain to abate I started on the Fort Ward loop trail. A detailed map of the trails of the park can be found here.

Equipment: Canon 5D Mark 2, Canon 100-400mm
Image details: 400mm, f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 800

I walked along the gravel trail for about 15 mnts and saw a group of Cormorants perched on some piers along the shoreline. With a storm building in the background it made for some cool compositions. Close to sunset, the sun broke through the clouds a little bit. The combination of the sunset and the storm clouds with the cormorants in the foreground made my evening.

Before I could setup my tripod the rain started pouring down. I shot off a few shots handheld and made my way back to my car. I will need to schedule a day of better weather to go back and explore Fort Ward State park.

Directions to the park

Grays harbor shorebirds

Equipment: Canon 5D Mark 2, Canon 100-400mm
Image details: 400mm, f/5.6, 1/500sec, ISO 400

The Sandpiper trail in Grays harbor is one of the best places to view and shoot migrating shorebirds in Washington state. Hundreds of thousands of shorebirds stop over in the estuary of Gray's harbor to feed and rest during their northbound migration.

For more information about shorebirds refer to http://www.shorebirdfestival.com. The Sandpiper trail is located in the Grays Harbor national wildlife refuge right next to the Bowerman airport. The airport parking lot also doubles as the parking lot for the trail. From the parking lot it's about a mile of boardwalk trail to hike out to the mudflats.

The birds start arriving middle to the end of April. The best time to visit the mudflats is during high tide - this way the birds are closest to the trail. If you visit the trail during the shorebird festival (April 30th to May 2nd) you will also find naturalists on the trail who can give you a lot of good information about the shorebirds. However expect the trail to be very crowded during the shorebird festival. Refer to the tide chart provided at http://www.fws.gov/graysharbor/viewing.html to find the best time to visit the refuge. My recommendation is to pick the evening with the highest tide to maximize your chances.

Despite the high tide you will need a big telephoto lens here to be able to get close up shots of the tiny shorebirds. With a 400mm you can try to get motion blur shots as the entire flock takes off - however do note that the picture I have above is probably a 30-40% crop of my image. If you are interested in close ups you will need to bring your 600mm and your teleconverter :)

When I visited the Sandpiper trail this year the naturalist recommended that I also visit Bottle beach - however I was not able to visit it this year. If any of you folks have had a chance to visit Bottle beach I would love to hear about your experience.

Directions to Sandpiper trail