Doug Beezley Photography | Oregon Coast - May 2011
This was my second (not to be my last) trip to the Oregon coast which features lighthouses, sea stacks, wild flowers, fiery sunsets and an occasional colorful sunrise plus ever-changing etchings in the sandy beaches.
My first trip four years ago was an introduction to beach photography and the use of graduated neutral density filters. What should have been a glorious learning experience turned into a pretty frustrating week because of some serious equipment failures - ballhead and tripod both "locked up" and became extremely difficult to use. Nevertheless, I was encouraged by what I saw and learned so when I won the trip of my choice from LightChase Tours, I elected to make a triumphant return to the Oregon coast. This time I would have the advantage of fully functioning equipment, experience with the use of filters and a familiarity with the routine of a LightChase Tour.
The "triumphant" return became a huge helping of humble pie (not my favorite flavor) as I apparently forgot everything I knew about using graduated neutral density filters (or didn't really know in the first place) and, yes, equipment failure. This time the failure was with the most critical piece of equipment, my camera which experienced electrical voodoo. The cause was fairly quickly discovered so I could use the camera as intended but there were other gremlins that would surface as I reviewed my images - 40 mysteriously disappeared, times and dates were all over the map and the white balance control locked in at a very "warm" setting. Fortunately, I shoot RAW (digital negative) so those white balance discrepencies were correctable.
All that aside, I can say that this tour was one of the most fun I've gone on because of the other participants. The enthusiasm and positive attitudes abounded and made up for lost sleep, much less halibut than I had planned on for dinner, and the equipment problems. In the end, it was an excellent week with a few good images, time spent with old friends and some new friends I hope to see on another photo outing in the future.
My first trip four years ago was an introduction to beach photography and the use of graduated neutral density filters. What should have been a glorious learning experience turned into a pretty frustrating week because of some serious equipment failures - ballhead and tripod both "locked up" and became extremely difficult to use. Nevertheless, I was encouraged by what I saw and learned so when I won the trip of my choice from LightChase Tours, I elected to make a triumphant return to the Oregon coast. This time I would have the advantage of fully functioning equipment, experience with the use of filters and a familiarity with the routine of a LightChase Tour.
The "triumphant" return became a huge helping of humble pie (not my favorite flavor) as I apparently forgot everything I knew about using graduated neutral density filters (or didn't really know in the first place) and, yes, equipment failure. This time the failure was with the most critical piece of equipment, my camera which experienced electrical voodoo. The cause was fairly quickly discovered so I could use the camera as intended but there were other gremlins that would surface as I reviewed my images - 40 mysteriously disappeared, times and dates were all over the map and the white balance control locked in at a very "warm" setting. Fortunately, I shoot RAW (digital negative) so those white balance discrepencies were correctable.
All that aside, I can say that this tour was one of the most fun I've gone on because of the other participants. The enthusiasm and positive attitudes abounded and made up for lost sleep, much less halibut than I had planned on for dinner, and the equipment problems. In the end, it was an excellent week with a few good images, time spent with old friends and some new friends I hope to see on another photo outing in the future.
