Photos Of Sonoma County

I had a great time in Sonoma County last week with Derrick Story on one of his workshops. Derrick is a top notch instructor and has a great eye for unique photos. He also runs a very smooth program. I can wholeheartedly recommend him as a workshop leader. Of course, I'd love it if you join me on one of my workshops, too. :-) 2018 dates will be announced later this summer.

I and several other like minded photographers had a cool road trip through the redwoods out to the California coast. Three days of nothing but photography. My kinda trip. The northern half of California has a very different coastline than SoCal. It is very rugged and peppered with sheltered coves. My legs were a little sore after three days of climbs down and up to the shoreline across the switchbacks. The kind of soreness that speaks to a good day being in nature.

The workshop challenged me, too. I was shooting unfamiliar subjects in difficult lighting conditions. For example, dealing with the dappled light of a redwood forest. Also, finding and isolating subjects on wooded trails. The phrase "bringing order to chaos" entered my mind more than once. Another challenge was shooting in mid-day light... I chose to take my processing in a direction to embrace the stronger light of the afternoons.

For the coastal hikes, I made the conscious effort to photograph more than my mainstay of seascapes. Workshops are the time to experiment, to try new compositions, to shoot in a different way. In addition to the "traditional" seascapes I dearly love, I experimented with shallower depths of field. I sought out close-up subject studies. I joke that I got distracted by a set of snail shells on a stump for 15 minutes. Time well spent, as Derrick would say.