THE SECOND AND THIRD TRY…

In my last blog post I talked about looking back into the archives during winter time. It sounds a little bit like being sentimental and trying to find old memories that were buried under the impressions that touched our photography minds more recently. I think it is much more than that and the photo I show you today is just used as an example of my train of thoughts.

This was photographed in August 2008. After a business trip to the Pacific Northwest I pitched my tent at one of the beaches of Olympic National Park in Washington State. As you can see, it was a nice evening with a gorgeous sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

I used a Sigma 18-50mm / f2.8 lens on the Nikon D200, my first DSLR camera. I loved this lens for its versatility and the f/2.8 aperture, but from today’s point of view it was not the sharpest lens. Are the problems I see in this image just due to older equipment? I don’t think so. I cropped the picture because my choice of composition was poor at the time. However, I still like the scene and was wondering what can I get out of my almost 27 years old RAW file with the software features that are available to us photographers today?

Well, the old John Steward quote, you can’t polish a turd, is still true and can be applied to political figures as well as to our own photos. In the low resolution image you see here in my blog post you can’t really see how much is missing. Despite noise reduction with highest software standards, upscaling of the picture, or great sharpening technology, which we can apply these days, it still has to be a decent photo to make it worth to work within our post process. I still don’t want to print this photo even with all the above applied, but I believe sharing the moment here on the world wide web is legitimate.

The bottom line is to learn from our previous photo adventures. I have been back at these beaches last year but the light wasn’t nearly as good. Maybe a third time will render a photo I’m really proud of…

BACK ON THE OLYMPIC PENINSULA

Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park, Washington

It took me more than 16 years to revisit Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park on the North Pacific coast of Washington. At the end of a week long business trip to California and Washington I added a couple days and spent the weekend on the Olympic peninsula. In 2008 these sea stacks were kissed by bright sunlight but this time a rain jacket was an important part of my gear. The high tide was coming in and watching the waves was highly recommended while looking through the view finder of the camera to keep the feet dry. With colors not playing a big role in the rain and with this heavy overcast I quickly decided to set the camera to monochrome mode and shot with the intend to produce some black and white photos. The beach behind me was full of big tree logs that the storms had accumulated over the years. Usually I don’t like dead trees in the foreground but a few pieces of driftwood seemed to be ok as part of the story the image would tell. I waited for waves that would create a nice foam pattern when the water runs back and that took many tries from different angles. Nature is always incredible and when a wave went right between the two pieces of driftwood, I suspected at least one image was on the memory card that I would probably like.

Later that evening I met my Airbnb- hosts Debby and Bob in Olympia, WA. Despite the discovery of a wasp problem in their studio apartment they didn’t cancel my stay and moved me into their house. Thank you again Debby and Bob for all your help, great conversation, and being such wonderful hosts!!