This workshop is now full. If you would like to be notified if and when a spot opens up join the waitlist via email.
Total workshop fee: $4,495, which includes five days of field and classroom instruction and six nights of accommodations in Forks, Washington. A $1,500 deposit secures your spot.
Download the workshop PDF for a complete description of the workshop, including full itinerary, specific gear recommendations, lodging and travel information and more.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve had many adventures in Olympic National Park. I grew up climbing its peaks, backpacking into its high alpine lakes and exploring its rain forests and coastlines. The park is filled with a diverse array of wildlife from the occasional mountain goat or black bear to sea otters, elk and birds. Each time I go there I find new exciting locations and different conditions at scenes I’ve visited before. This is a big, dynamic park filled with photographic opportunity, and I feel privileged to be able to take a group of photographers into the park on this workshop adventure.
Olympic has so much to offer the outdoor photographer all in one easy to access location. Glaciated mountains, wide-open alpine ridges, old-growth forests, and miles of spectacular coastline. It’s one of my favorite Northwest locations to shoot.
I’ll be joined by my good friend David Archer, as well as my workshop coordinator, Rick LePage. These two amazing photographers will help me teach and lead as we explore and photograph this amazingly diverse national park while learning to expand your creative vision and better use your camera equipment and editing software. This park really is like three locations in one with deep forests, waterfalls and streams leading from high glaciated ridges and peaks down to its iconic sea stack littered coast. Best of all, a wonderful system of national park roads makes it simple to access all of the locations on our itinerary.
Locations
During the workshop, we will be based out of Forks, Washington, perfectly situated near the wild Olympic coast and a stone’s throw from the Hoh Rain Forest. There we’ll hone our photography knowledge and review, discuss and critique images. Our classroom will be a short-term rental in town, and participants will stay nearby at the Pacific Inn.
Outside of class time, we’ll have dawn, sunset and night shoots at locations including Hurricane Ridge; Rialto, Ruby and Kalaloch beaches; and the Hoh Rain Forest, among others. We will demonstrate basic photography principles alongside advanced techniques like panoramic mergers, long exposure photography, focus-stacking and time-lapse photography. We’ll also make time for some hiking and exploration. Of course you are always free to follow your own creative vision if you find yourself drawn in a different direction from the rest of the group.
Tentative Schedule
During the workshop, we will alternate between time in the field and in the classroom, where we will have regular image reviews and Q&A. Our focus in the field will be on helping everyone capture beautiful and interesting photos in this great park.
The proposed schedule below will give you a good idea of the scope of the workshop; as always, we will go wherever the light, the land and the weather take us in search of great photo opportunities.
Monday, July 27
- Meet and greet at our classroom (9 am start)
- Discussion of Olympic National Park: locations, opportunities, and the week’s weather forecast
- Afternoon scouting drive to the Hoh Rain Forest
- Sunset at Ruby Beach
Tuesday, July 28
- Day one image reviews (morning session)
- Image editing and post-production instruction
- Drive to Hurricane Ridge for exploration and sunset (early dinner in Port Angeles)
Wednesday, July 29
- Morning drive into Hoh Rain Forest
- Day two image reviews
- Sunset at Rialto Beach
Thursday, July 30
- Sunrise shoot with the setting moon over the ocean at Ruby or Rialto Beach
- Day three image reviews, editing discussion and Q&A
- Sunset shoot at First or Second Beach
Friday, July 31
- Day four image reviews, final Q&A (morning)
- Early dinner as a group
- Sunset shoot at Hole in the Wall
Transportation
Participants are responsible for getting themselves to the workshop. Two airports will get you within driving distance to Forks. Seattle-Tacoma International (SEA) is the closest (3.5 hours), with Portland International (PDX) a bit further (4.5 hours) out. The drive from either airport can be quite beautiful, with ample places to stop and photograph. During the workshop, we will utilize my 12-passenger Sprinter van, El Jefe, and a second van, to access photo locations along the coast. Participants are welcome to drive their own vehicle if they prefer.
Our classroom will be at a short-term rental in Forks; we’ll let everyone know where well in advance of the workshop. As noted, we have paid for a block of rooms at the Pacific Inn in Forks from Sunday, July 26, through the length of the workshop (checking out on August 1). All rooms are single-occupancy, with bathrooms. The Inn can be reached at 800-235-7344.
Payment Terms
The Olympic National Park workshop is priced at $4,495, which includes five days of fieldwork and classroom instruction, and six nights of accommodations at the Pacific Inn in Forks. You can reserve your spot with a $1,500 deposit; you will receive an invoice for the final balance approximately 90 days before the start of the workshop. The balance must be paid in full 60 days prior to the workshop to hold your place.
All workshop payments are fully refundable less a 10% fee up to 60 days prior to the first day of the workshop. If you cancel anywhere from 59 to 30 days prior to the workshop, we will make every effort to find a replacement. If we can fill your spot, 90% of your workshop fee will be refunded; if we cannot find a replacement, we will refund 50% of your workshop fee. Any cancellation within 30 days is non-refundable.
Download the workshop PDF for a complete description of the workshop, including suggested lodging info, what to bring, and more.
