Part 3 – Rialto Beach and 1st Beach – Craig Niesen Photography

Rialto Beach – Olympic National Park

The first morning near Olympic National Park I awoke early with enough time to drive to Rialto Beach well before sunrise. The prior evening Shelley and I had tried to photograph the sunset at Rialto, but the sky was overcast to the point that there was no light to be had. As I was walking along the beach to the location that I had selected from the night before, I thought to myself how quiet and calm the beach was. The sound of the Pacific Ocean breaking against the coastline was relaxing. I had the whole beach to myself; there was not another soul for miles.

I continued south down the beach toward the mouth of the Quillayute River. As I closed in on the sea stacks that I had select for the sunrise, I began forming the composition in my head. I have noticed that I am doing this more and more, even when I am not out photographing. I see the compositions that I want to create and picture how the final photograph will look. The composition that I decided on was a simple one.

Sunrise at Rialto Beach

I lowered my camera bag off of my back and onto the stones of the beach. And then I removed my tripod from my bag, and laid the bag thoroughly to the ground. I set my tripod lower than most would and framed up my composition. I was hoping that the few breaks in the clouds would be enough to allow some of the morning light to invade my arrangement. This was one of those times that even though I was wrong, I was still able to walk away with a strong photograph. There were many such times on this trip, but if you are not willing to gamble with the weather and the light, you will never be blessed with that one photograph that you will love. Plus I was able to get out and enjoy the sights and sounds of the Pacific Ocean.

1st Beach – Olympic National Park

The evening of the second day in Olympic National Park found Shelley and I back at the ocean, this time for an attempt at photographing the sunset at 1st Beach. The wind was blowing hard, and the sea was choppy. We were greeted with broken clouds in the sky. I had a photograph in mind for these conditions. I wanted to smooth out the water and have the sky appear to be painted in the photograph. Knowing this, I shot the composition with a 10-stop neutral destiny filter as well as a circular polarizer. This allowed me to hold the shutter of my camera open for 8 seconds. Below is my final photograph from 1st Beach.