My last visit to Costa rica was over a decade ago, and yet I still remember walking along sand beaches where the mountains capped with cloud forests met the Pacific, exploring volcanoes rising up from the thick jungles along the spine of the country, and relaxing on sunswept beaches lining the azure waters of the Pacific. It felt like a land that offered a slice of the 'pure life'.
Have you been here? What has been your favorite memory from here?
Costa Rica
On a rare storm-free winter weekend in Washington, I managed to sneak out to the Olympic coast in search of some color after a long spell of the famous PNW greys. Thankfully the sky opened up that weekend for what turned out to be a remarkable sunset. I tried multiple compositions of that sunset, trying to frame the seastack and the small tidepools with the setting sun. This was one such outcome from that memorable sunset
Olympic National Park
WA USA
The calm surface of the Pacific along the rugged Oregon Coast glistens under the late autumn sunlight.
Cape Lookout State Park
OR USA
A weathered log that washed up on the sandy shores of coastal Oregon made for a photogenic subject on a sunny evening.
Cape Lookout State Park
OR USA
A rare sunny weekend on the coast gave us the change to see the sun for one last time before the winter sets in
Cape Lookout State Park
OR USA
The little set of islands tucked just off the coast of southwestern California is quite unlike the mainland: picture the same rocky and rugged California coastline enveloping a windblown ocean environment replete with kelp forests and the islands own unique wildlife. So near and yet so different - that was the impression I carried from my short visit to the largest island from the town of Oxnard.
I remember wandering around the tiny island, learning about its history, and admiring the tiny island foxes that roamed around the island carefree and unafraid of humans. Its not an island paradise of Hawaii, but it certainly had its own charm.
Channel Islands National Park
CA USA
The third park in my journey through the 59 (then) National Parks was the Redwood National Park. I had planned it as a short detour on my way to the fourth one (more about it on my next post), hoping to see the tall coastal redwoods that this region was so famous for. And while I did get to admire the grandeur of the misty forests with towering trees, it is hard to get a perspective of size of the Coastal Redwoods unlike the Giant Sequoias further inland. I remember bad weather and lack of planning marring further exploration of this park, and I had tabled this place in my memory for a future visit.
Despite being so close and accessible, I only had the opportunity to visit this amazing park once after that. I used the opportunity to admire the rugged and rocky coastline, and hike amidst the giant redwood forests, and feeling like an eternal dwarf in unspoilt nature. I wish I could go back and spend more time in this beautiful slice of nature that is often left out of the tourist maps, and explore the unexplored.
Here is my take of the rocky shore one foggy evening, where I exaggerated the color with the help of the Singh Ray Blue and Gold Polarizer.
Redwood National Park
CA USA
The long Olympic coastline is characterized by sandy beaches interspersed by rocky headlands replete with sea stacks topped by wind-sheared trees, natural arches that are slowly eroding away, and rocky cliffs withstanding the onslaught of the steady march of the waves. And in the winter, storms in the Pacific create surges of waves that blast the irregular shoreline. As the waves march towards the land, the strong winds catch the waves and spray it far, leading to a haze that is often characterized as the salty atmosphere of the wet olympic coast
I tried to capture its spirit in this scene that is typical of the beautiful coastline of this region.
Olympic National Park
WA USA
The strange thing about the sunset is that, as a photographer, I actually don't want the sun to set. I want it to stay right on the horizon - not below it, not above it - just right on it. And yet, everyday the sunset laps us, signalling the end of the day. The passing of the sunset reminds us that time is ephemeral, and as much as I don't want the sun to set, it does, and we have to make sure we make the best of every single sunset, and every single moment.
Netarts
OR USA
The march of the waves is incessant and steadfast. For years and decades and centuries, the swells brought on by the strong Pacific winds have crashed against the Tillamook headlands. Over millenia, this has slowly etched away at the rocky leaving behind the seastacks this region is so well known for, including the famous Haystack Rock of Cannon beach
From this vantage point in Ecola State Park, you can watch this erosion in action, albeit at a glacial timescale. The morning light, combined with the sea spray that hangs around above the water, yielded a blissful scene that was imprinted in my mind.
Ecola State Park
OR USA
