This image was taken following a 5 workshop in the Pacific Northwest section of the USA, more specifically in the Hoh Rainforest and along the picturesque Washington state coastline.
The coastal beaches here are filled with inviting sea stacks, log-strewn beaches and windswept vistas that are coveted for their moody and magnificent sunsets. For those who love Macro, the sea life in many of the tide pools is not to be missed, as it is filled with urchins, anemones, sea stars and other small critters that thrive in these diverse intertidal zones.
We drove to the beach well before sunset to allow ourselves adequate time to scout the area and look for several compositions to shoot should the photography gods bless us with soft clouds and warm colours to fulfil what was shaping up to be a great evening of shooting.
Spending a few minutes with the PhotoPills app helped narrow down several specific locations by showing us more precisely where the sun would be setting, allowing us to fine-tune our desired locations. The three of us set up cameras, tripods and filters as needed, put on our waders, set our gear on the beach in front of us and chatted as the sun slowly began to descend.
We each had two or three locations chosen to shoot when the time came, each close by but affording different angles and views of the same sea stacks. As we sat and chatted and waited, an Otter popped his head out of the ocean and stared at us but decided we were much too scary to come ashore in front of. Two more "pop-ups", and he (or she) decided it was safe, and we were far enough down the beach now to make the quick journey across the sand and scamper up the hillside behind us.
As we sat there contemplating the universe and which Grateful Dead show was actually the best one we had ever been to, the sun began to sink slowly lower in the sky, and the soft colours of the evening started to fill the sky. Grabbing our gear, we head into the shallow water about 50 feet apart and just in front of the small waves breaking in front of us.
We spent the next thirty minutes or so shooting and moving until we could only see by the light of our headlamps, and the sun was long gone. After sharing a frosty beverage to toast the end of a successful evening, we made our way back up the trail. After saying our farewells, we each went our separate ways and were left with great memories and even more memorable images.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor