It had been a while since I had practiced any kind of photography, since I had been spending most of my time happily at home with my newborn son. So before heading up to lead a weeklong workshop in Olympic National Park, I gave myself a few extra days to go hiking and retune myself to the slow rhythm of nature. After taking a few months off, I was worried my eyes would not be as sharp, and I would not be able to recognize subtle details and visual elements which play a crucial role in making compelling photographs.
After considering our many options, me and my fellow photographer friend, Michael Bollino, decided to hike out to a very popular, heavily photographed waterfall. One that I had never been to before, and that he had not visited for several years. I had seen the waterfall many times in photographs before, which is why I decided to ignore it in my previous trips to the Portland, Oregon area. But since I wasn't necessarily hoping to create any
