Photography Retreat Part 2

Paint Strokes

The Salem Digital Photo Group held their first annual photography retreat this fall. The retreat was held on the beautiful Oregon coast at the wonderful Camp Magruder, near Rockaway Beach, Oregon.

To recap, the first day started down on the beach for some beach scenes followed by an amazing sunset. Then late at night we went out to attempt a one hour exposure, which ended in a bust a little before 1:00 AM.

But that didn't stop the happy campers from rising early and heading down to the private lake for some early morning light and water shots.

Purple Morning Light

The water on the lake was glass-smooth and created a perfect mirror-like reflection. I played with some motion, and some abstract reflection work with the scene.

The Paint Strokes image above was done with a slight shift while the shutter was open.

The Purple Morning Light image to the right is an flipped reflection photography of the reflection that was on the lake with two gradient purple filters  to make it pop.

Rainbow of Colors

Once the light became a little brighter, I moved back up to the boathouse to capture some images I have wanted to do for a while.

To the left is a photograph of four kayaks. I was really wanting the colors and patterns of the boats for a simple, yet colorful image that is aesthetically pleasing to my eyes. I was definitely successful there.

The old canoe

The other image I really wanted was an old, and obviously unused canoe/kayak/boat. I found that in this image of the canoe. Land-bound and aged with time and lack of use this made the perfect subject.

The Old Canoe, on the right, was an attempt to combine the elements of a path, indicating time and the old canoe to indicate the effect of time.

The overall message of the image is that time moves on with or without us.

I was happy with the results of the image. I achieved my goal, from my perspective and I was able to revel in the success of a pre-visualized image successfully captured.

I then turned my camera on the others at the retreat to capture what they were doing and seeing.

After shooting at the lake and other various fun things, it was time for breakfast! I must say, they provided a ton of food that was tasty, filling and a welcome fuel for the day that was to come. We had omletes, sausage, hashbrowns, cereal, oatmeal with all the fixing, milk, coffee, juices and apples or oranges. We left stuffed and ready for a nap, but there was no rest for the wicked.
Next week I will post part three of the series... so stay tuned!