The Oregon coast is made up mostly of a rugged coastline where the Ocean meets the rugged contours of the Pacific Northwest. This juxtaposition of where land meets water is a photographer’s paradise. Scattered throughout the coastline are these mounds of rock jutting out of the tidal zone called sea stacks. They are important habitat for sea birds such as puffins. For the most part the beaches consist of fine white sand that seems to find its way into everything you own. The winds were quite fierce while I was there, which is apparently a common thing to locals. This made for some interesting navigation on foot. You would literally be sandblasted any time you ventured out of the forest and into the dry sandy areas.
I decided on taking a morning to enjoy the sunrise at Two Jack Lake while out for a morning photo shoot in Banff National Park. I discovered a piece of driftwood that was positioned with a beautiful backdrop of Cascade Mountain. After taking the photo, I was all excited to come home to process the image. Unfortunately I noticed that this driftwood seemed to be in every photo taken at this lake in Google’s search results. This place was obviously a hotbed for photographers. I usually pride myself for trying to capture places that are more obscure. When looking online almost every photo was shot from the same angle as I had, and had the same colour scheme during sunrise. As I processed the image I felt that black and white gave this photo the extra little bit it needed to become a standalone photo that distinguished a distinct difference from the plethora of popular images. It was after this, that I realized why I stopped and photographed it in the first place. It caught my eye because it had all of the elements to make a great image. I just needed to create what I saw when I was there.
Over the years, I have developed a tremendous appreciation and now cherish the countless hours I have spent driving the countryside in the early hours of the morning. The air is fresh, animals are at their most active and the atmosphere is so quiet. This photograph is a prime example of why I love mornings.
