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Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Carol and I have visited the Olympic National Park in Washington State several times over the last three decades. It's a remarkable destination highlighted by one notable gem. A masterful seascape aptly named Ruby Beach. The place is best experienced during the low tides, preferably a minus tide. During both full and new moons, tides hit their peaks and the more extreme minus tides (around -2 ft. this visit) occur infrequently so timing is everything. During these tide rewinds on this flat-as-a-pancake beach, you can seemingly walk towards the ocean forever. Sea stacks, rock monoliths and fully-stocked tide pools are completely exposed and totally accessible. The 1/8" slick of water that covers the beach opens up a myriad of reflections while clear skies, hazy atmosphere to near zero-visibility fog can flip on a dime. Simply put, a lighting smorgasbord for the camera.

During our travels I've photographed a beach or two along the western edge of North America. Nothing near all of them of course, but a solid sampling from Alaska to the Mexican border. And although I try to use absolutes within conversation in very small doses, here I have no problem declaring Ruby Beach perhaps the most dramatic and photogenic beach of the bunch.

Beyond the beach, driving up to, over, under, around and then back from the Northern coast during the Covid era, we saw plenty evidence of the hit many of the small fishing ports and tourism-based coastal towns have taken. An industry born from the sea and now hustling to survive economically. If that's not enough, commercial fishing also faces ongoing harvest droughts — a crisis of diminishing returns from the ocean itself.

Photography wise, the aging corrugated-metal processing plants, endless piles of dry-docked vessels, the decaying brick and wooden structures and the multitude of commercial fishing accessories like metal and nylon fish bins, ropes, traps and nets continue to attract me. Over time, these places and things take on interesting, highly visual vintage patinas. They strike me as abstraction subjects rather than simply old, discarded and grungy artifacts. This was a prolific shooting trip and for purposes to post a well-rounded travelogue album I'm not showing much of what I was really after. Minimalistic patterns (without much of a subject) that I use to produce digital compositions that become inspiration and guides for later abstract-based paintings.



Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Sea Stacks, Ruby Beach - Olympic National Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Beach Reflections, Ruby Beach - Olympic National Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Beach Pebbles, Ruby Beach - Olympic National Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Dry-docked Boat Hull - Ilwaco, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Dry-docked Boat Hull - Crescent City, CA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Dry-docked Boat Hull (fiberglass sanding) - Ilwaco, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Yellow Crab Rope - North Bend, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Blue Crab Rope - Garibaldi, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Shipping Container Detail - Gold Beach, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Beach Sand Detail - Cape Disappointment State Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Fish Bin Detail - Garibaldi, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Stainless Crab Bin- Crescent City, CA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Seagull Nation - Cape Disappointment State Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Earth and Sky, Kalaloch Beach - Olympic National Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Budweiser Truck - Forks, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Heavy Equipment Tire Shop - Newport, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Corrugated Warehouse Siding - Forks, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Driftwood - Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Peeling Paint - Long Beach, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Rear Wall - Port Orford, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Dead Cypress Limbs, Lady Bird Johnson Grove - Orick, CA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Fallen Redwood Tree - Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, CA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Pond Grass - Arizona Beach State Recreation Area, Port Orford, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Pond Grass / Leaves - Arizona Beach State Recreation Area, Port Orford, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
WW1 Armory Ammunition Shelves- Cape Disappointment State Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
WW1 Armory Wall- Cape Disappointment State Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Hills and Fog - Garibaldi, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Driftwood Detail, Rialto Beach - Olympic National Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Driftwood Detail, Kalaloch Beach - Olympic National Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Greyscale Fence - Long Beach, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Red Fence - Long Beach, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Wooden Roll-up Door - Lincoln City, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Yacht Reflection - Garibaldi, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Marina Reflections - Garibaldi, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Abandoned Warehouse - Aberdeen, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Brick Wall - Garibaldi, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Oyster Bin - Crescent City, CA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Metal Culvert Tunnel - Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
WW1 Armory - Cape Disappointment State Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Sand Art, Kalalock Beach - Olympic National Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Dungeness Killing Field - Cape Disappointment State Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Blow Hole - Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Redwood Stump - Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, CA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Commercial Warehouse - Aberdeen, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
White Patch, Abandoned Barn - Garibaldi, OR
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Orange Patch, Garage - Forks, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Carol - Ilwaco, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Selfie - Ilwaco, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Shadow Reflections - Olympic National Park, WA
Mark Wegner, Photographer - www.markwegner.com
Two Suns, Ruby Beach - Olympic National Park, WA