Lopez Island

For Spring Break, I took a trip to Lopez Island! This has been one of my dream destinations for a long time. I camped at Spencer Spit State Park for three nights and visited some of the coolest parks and natural areas on the island. Even with this long of a visit, there's still more on the island that I didn't get to see - incentive for the next visit! I was blessed with dry conditions for the entirety of my stay. Here, in no particular order, are the best results of my photography.

Point Colville

Point Colville is on the south side of the island in the San Juan Islands National Monument. The hike is fairly short, but rewarding, with cool views and old trees. The view below looks roughly west, between the main island on the right and Castle Island on the left.

Lopez Hill

This is a forested area on the east side of the island; mostly second growth forest, I believe, but still a cool place, with unique natural features like wetlands and some rocky clearings. Here is one such wetland:

And a closeup of calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa). This is the best closeup I've gotten of a single flower of this kind. F/4.5.

Spencer Spit State Park

Here's the sunrise from the park where I stayed, just a few minutes' walk from the camping area.

Iceberg Point

This, another unit of the national monument, might be the most iconic spot on Lopez - and, for me, it was the hardest place to do landscapes. I've written on this blog about how forests are hard to photograph effectively due to the sheer overabundance of things; the compositions get so busy. Iceberg Point presents the opposite challenge, as it is a comparatively sparse landscape and finding a foreground that will be compelling is tricky. I felt least successful here. Iceberg Point would be a place to visit multiple times in multiple seasons - I think on my second or fifth or tenth visit, I'd do a lot better.

First, two from almost the same spot on different days. I think the lighting on the second is better, although I like that the first includes the Olympics in the distance.

Here's one with camas in the foreground and the rest of the landscape out of focus (F/5). I'm not entirely satisfied with the sharpness/image quality of this one, but it might be sufficient for at least some print sizes, and I like the composition.

Speaking of camas, here's a closeup. This is the best camas closeup I have to date. F/5.

Here's another flower closeup, one I didn't recognize. Could it be Claytonia rubra? That would make sense, as this definitely looks like it could be related to other Claytonia plants, and my sources tell me that Claytonia rubra grows in the San Juans. I found this one out in the open, in a rocky area. F/6.3.

Odlin County Park

This park, which is on the north end of the island near the ferry terminal, has a smattering of old Douglas firs. This image features one such specimen in the foreground:

Watmough Bay

Finally, Watmough Bay is another piece of the national monument on the south side of the island, a quiet beach enclosed by cliffs. Here's a view looking up the cliffs to the north of the beach.

Sol Duc Not-Falls

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to visit the Sol Duc Falls trail in Olympic National Park. As the title of this post suggests, I won't be posting any compositions involving the main falls - I wasn't satisfied with my results. Some others turned out well, though, and the falls is always cool to experience.

First, two views of a tributary stream seen from the trail. Both F/20, 3 seconds and 2 seconds.

Next, two views of the Sol Duc River just downstream of the falls. I am unsure which composition I prefer, as the first emphasizes the river and rocks, and the second emphasizes the forest surroundings. Both F/20, 0.8 seconds and 1 second.

Finally, the Sol Duc River again, this time from a viewpoint along the road. F/22, 1 second.