olympic peninsula | Vancouver Photographer

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”                     – Robert Louis Stevenson

I had been wanting to do a trip for about two months. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money, I didn’t want to be gone long, and I didn’t want to go far. I didn’t even really care where I was going.

I just wanted to go.

Not to get away from anything, but I just really felt like I wanted an experience. I wanted to do something different, I wanted quiet, time to think, reflect. And of course, take pictures.

I decided to go to the Olympic Peninsula, a gorgeous national park on the west coast of Washington State Park. Part of the experience was the road trip. It turned out to be about an 8 hour trip one way, all things considered. I loaded my Golf up with camping and photography gear and set out at 4am last Wednesday. And it felt good to drive hard for 8 hours.

Another part of the experience was camping. I used to camp a lot, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I had been before this trip. Proud moments included:

1. Setting up the tent all by myself (and in under an hour!)

2. Starting a fire from mostly damp wood

3. And going mano e mano with a cheeky raccoon the first night.

All in all, it was a great trip. Sometimes just giving yourself the time to think long and hard is the best thing you can do. Now, I’ve just started editing some photo’s from the trip but here’s a taste. I also shot a few rolls on my Holga which might make their way up here some day

This shot was from the first night, on Ruby Beach.

It was cold as a cucumber, but quite pretty.

And as serene as this picture might look, it was sheer chaos behind the lens.

Every second the light changing

Every moment the tide moving further out.

Constantly adjusting settings, moving, composing and re-composing.

Being caught off-guard and getting drenched by a rough wave.

Hand shaking and shivering , lips turning blue, toes going numb from the cold.

And finally realizing its pitch black… and you can’t remember which way you came from.

So you gather your gear, and start singing old hymns at the top of your lungs to warn the cougars and bears, (that you’re praying aren’t really there) as you run back to where you think you parked the car.

Cheers

Adam