Tag Archives: Olympic National Park

  • Reflections in Lake Crescent by Jay Goodrich

    Mosses dominate the forground of reflections in Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park.

The Water Olympics Workshop

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Oh yeah it’s one of those scenes…I can here you now, nice colors Jay, I like the textures, interesting perspective. This scene is not what you think my friends. What you don’t see in this image is the devil, pure concentrated evil. I am speaking of the 666 variety. Just lurking below the calm waters of of Lake Crescent here in Olympic National Park exists a serpent. Last weekend I was leading a workshop there with a great group of 25 photographers and all of them were just as unsuspecting as you are to the events that were about to transpire. Hell even I wasn’t on board.

It wasn’t mere minutes after this wonderful, peaceful scene was created on my sensor, sent through the buffer, and written to my flash card that the world was about to change. I moved in closer to the water to create abstract reflections of those branches in the right of this scene. Some great compositions. And then in an instant. FUCK! Yes, I managed to knock my brand new 1D Mark IV and 70-200 f2.8 IS II lens, tripod, ballhead, and shutter release into the lake. I mean that unseen fucking serpent took it–I can’t blame it on my own stupidity now can I. Not just a little, but into the depths, complete submersion. Listen to the needle drag across the record here.

My alter ego, (Tyler Durden from Fight Club) wanted to beat the crap out of me, but he resisted in this case, so the 25 severely concerned witnesses didn’t have me committed. After going fishing to bring the whole rig out, Art and Gavriel helped me dry it off. What the heck was I going to do? There were still two days left in this workshop? I decided to go for it and press the shutter release to see what would happen, and to my surprise, the damn thing took a picture.

Arms raised like I had just won the SuperBowl. YES! A true testament to a Canon professional body and lens. After toweling off the exterior, I went in. Opened the battery compartment, flash card compartment, lens off, everything completely dry. Looking through the lens no water, nothing. This can’t be happening to me. I never have this kind of luck.

And then, after about 2 hours, the scene from the Empire Strikes Back came blazing into my life. “Chewy, let’s make the jump to lightspeed.” Han Solo pulls the lever, and in the true spirit of his luck, the ship shutters and slows, as if to say, I am just too tired my friend you are out of credits once again. The lens fogged, camera produced an error message, and menu went blank. “But, but I thought I fixed the hyperdrive?” Laser blasts all around. FUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK! No water anywhere inside? What the hell? Again?

After kicking the tires, scratching my head, and other various body parts, trying to figure it out, it came to me. Wait, wait, I went from the clear blue warmth into the cool, moist, shaded rainforest of the Hoh. Temperature gradiant and just enough moisture left in those seals? What if I open everything up and put this puppy in the hot car, in the sun for a few hours?

Hours later as we walk down the water’s edge of the Pacific on Second Beach, my thought process was about to be tested. Had I come up with a legitimate solution? Was I worthy of the “Professional” title in front of my name? “R2 what do you mean the hyperdrive was disconnected?” The flick of a little lever and…The stars all of a sudden align and blur like a long exposure. Hyperdrive fixed once again. Click. Time to photograph the sunset.

I am now off to the desert to lead a group in Zion, where this no water–no water, just rocks…

  • Powder Skiing by Jay Goodrich

    Mark Kogelmann makes some powder turns in the backcountry near Mt Herman.

Work–Workshops–and Travel

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Many of you have been wondering where the heck I have been. It has been how many weeks since my last post? I know, I know, inconsistency is not good for Google, SEO, PPO, CPS, NPS, LLC, INC, and whatever other abbreviations you can come up with. Seriously though, I have been working like a crazy man. 21 days of photographing skiing, 14 days of teaching workshops, and then image mastering–tons of mastering, keywording, descriptions, titles, and headlines. And let’s not forget the proposals for upcoming projects. Days are just flying by, I can’t believe it’s almost April?

I have put together submissions to Patagonia, Powder Magazine, Black Diamond Equipment, and a major calendar company. I taught a workshop with my dear friend Art Wolfe in Seattle on the art of composing images, then I taught two HDR workshops at this year’s NANPA Summit in McAllen, TX, and the whole time in-between working to create the best ski portfolio ever. This is where I need to add a special thank you to all of the athletes who have been working with me–Mark Kogelmann, Owen Dudley, Peder Bottheim, Tyler Hatcher, Nick Marvic, Colin Poff, Pat Tolton, and Ian Burge. The images would be nothing without them. Now, I would also like to thank the Academy…I think it just feels good to complete missions and projects. It’s like adding another notch to the bedpost. Or something like that. Laugh. Oh and there will be a film highlighting all this work sometime this spring, with an interview with ah…me. We are thinking of calling it life | SENTENCES, what do you think?

I have been to Seattle, Texas, Canada, and now as you read this China. Yep, JG Inc. is going international–again, this time crossing the monster pond. If I can sort out an internet connection while there, (which I am hoping I can do) I will post some of the work I am creating while there.

As if that wasn’t enough, l have managed to fill all but 2 of my workshops. China–FULL, The Olympic Peninsula–FULL, Zion–FULL, Lightroom 3–space left, and Alaska–space left. The Alaska trip is being co-lead with Art Wolfe, so why wouldn’t you want to go? I mean it is not everyday that you get to drink really good Tequila and Bourbon with really good photographers. Right? And in the future, I promise to try and enlighten the world at least once a week with something intriguing, if not, it will at least be completely off the wall, humorous, and as misdirected as a Jack Russell Terrier.

Look Ma, No Hands! I Think?

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Clouds over Second Beach, Washington © Jay Goodrich

I spent last night leafing through a sketch book of mine from 1994. That was right after I graduated college with a 5 year Bachelor of Architecture Degree. This sketch book was originally 100 sheets of paper. I know there are less pages in there now because I remember tearing out multiple sheets for those “whatever” necessities over the years. This book has everything in it. Notes on construction projects, diary pages, wacky sketches, designs, logos, notes to my brain, dimensions, quotes, literature, black, white, color, how-to stuff, and what ever else came to my mind. The book is completely full, with a final page stating “the end” in blue pencil dated almost 5 years ago. I didn’t bring this sketchbook everywhere and there were many others. I was looking at this particular one because I remember liking the paper texture and feel for drawing and wanted to find a new one that was the same or similar.

Seastacks, Second Beach, Washington © Jay Goodrich

On one of the pages in classic Jay scribble was written a quote, “The rest of those who have gone before us can not steady the unrest of those to follow.”–Finding Forrester. I don’t know if that quote was written for the movie or if was taken from someone else but, whew, definitely thought provoking. And, when thinking about creating a photographic image–even more provoking. I immediately think about all those photographers who have been to popular locations before many of us, the Art Wolfes and William Neills of the world, or the Elliot Porters, Ansel Adams, and William Henry Jacksons for that matter. I can not imagine being the first human to discover a place like Yellowstone or Yosemite. Crazy.

The Pacific Ocean at Sunset, Washington © Jay Goodrich

A couple of weeks ago, I had that little taste of venturing back out into nature to a place that has seen and will see tons of traffic. I have personally visited the location three times now. This place is Second Beach in Olympic National Park. I am not the first and not even close to the last, but for me this place holds a beauty and a tranquility that is almost indescribable. Many have asked what the sunset was like that night, well, it was pretty amazing. It was…perfect and not for the common visual cues that rise to the surface of the mind immediately. It was perfect for reasons beyond.

Beach Texture, Washington © Jay Goodrich

As I think about that quote a little more, it leaves me with a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration. What does he truly mean, “those who have gone before us can not steady the unrest”? After sifting and thinking, over and over again, I have come to one conclusion. Those before, no matter how original, how creative, or how different can not change those who follow in their footsteps because the followers desire the same thing–with photography that is the act of creation. My unrest is my desire to create something, anything, new and different. I crave it and I will never cease from it. And quite frankly, it does not matter who came before me, no matter how amazing their images are or were, I thirst for something new, different, and in response to my personal visual connection to that place. I think of it and my stomach churns, my heart skips a beat, and I peruse thoughts in my head of how quickly I can find a place, that one or a new one to study, explore, and fuel the unrest for the rest…of my life.

Beach Texture, Washington © Jay Goodrich

  • Barnes Creek Alders by Jay Goodrich

    Alders stand out of the forest with their silvery trunks along Barnes Creek in Olympic National Park, Washington.

April 2010 Photo of the Month

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Last week I captured a ton of photos because Heather took the kids to Colorado to visit the grandparents. Having this new found “freedom”, I took the opportunity to spend one of the days exploring Olympic National Park. As I was driving out to the beach for the anticipated sunset, this scene along Barnes Creek caught my eye on the drive-by. I quickly turned around and started to work some compositions for an hour or so.

It’s amazing how your eye can catch a glimpse of something at 50mph. What I saw, which became the subject of all of the images, were these long and lacy branches of alder that were extending over the the creek from both sides. The alder bark is light enough that the trees really stand out over their green forest counterparts. I used a Singh-Ray LB Warming Polarizer to cut the reflections on the water and the leaves. This composition is one of my favorites for its ability to highlight my subject and give the viewer and idea of the setting which was before me. Taken with a Canon 1D Mark III, 16-35mm f2.8 II lens, Gitzo tripod, Kirk BH-1 ballhead.

This month also marks the beginning of us offering the prints for sale directly from our licensing site. Now we have a Photo of the Month gallery where this and all future images featured here on the blog can be purchased at a discounted rate. Eventually, we will add all of theprevious photos of the month here too.

  • Sea Stacks La Push Washington by Jay Goodrich

    The western sun sets behind sea stacks on Second Beach in La Push, Washington.

The Beach

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I recently wrote a blog post about this amazing sunset that occurred during a workshop that I taught in Olympic National Park this fall. A friend of mine, Younes Bounhar, told me that he was bummed that I hadn’t posted an image of that sunset yet. Well, here is one of the images from that evening. Everyone that has seen the images from that night has liked this one the most. Remember, like I said in the previous post, it isn’t over until the last glimmer of light has left the sky and you can not see your hand in front of your face. Even then, it is not over, as long as you can see the stars. I only head home when Heather is calling to let me know that the kids are hungry, and need to go to bed. Even then, if it is really good, I can con her into letting me stay a little longer. I captured this image with a Canon 1D Mark III, 16-35mm II f2.8 lens, Gitzo tripod, Kirk BH-1 Ballhead and a Singh Ray LB Warming Polarizer. The final image was mastered in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.