Jason Savage Photography

Nature Photography Workshops Tours

Main navigation

Washington’s 2017 Palouse Workshop

by Leave a Comment

Palouse Barn
First light, Palouse. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II F8 1/10 ISO400

Finally getting caught up on some editing here and thought I would share a few images from our Palouse Workshop this spring. We had a fantastic trip in eastern Washington’s amazing landscape and old Americana towns. Despite a couple days of rain we managed to work some great scenes and explore some new locations this year. 

Whenever inclement weather rolls in, it’s easy to get discouraged, especially when you have your sights set on certain scenes and images you’ve envisioned. I’ve learned a while back that great images can be made in any conditions and instead of fighting the weather, use it to your advantage. Making lemonade out of lemons. Adversity in nature photography or any photography for that matter is a great teacher and forces you to really reach in and dig deeper for your inner creativity. It also is a great way in training the eye to work for compositions and studying elements. 

On this trip we had a couple days where we shifted gears from big landscapes to things that would work in our couple days of rain. Classic cars, fading paint, abstracts, old Americana. Focusing more of our attention on one of the Palouse’s endearing qualities, it’s history. After a day or two of wandering some of the small towns, I was really impressed with what our group came away with. Especially seeing everyone’s unique perspectives. 

Despite the initial rain, the Palouse did not disappoint as usual. For our night at Palouse Falls, the skies began to clear, giving us an epic sunset, intense colors, and great atmosphere that night. We came away with some of the best shots I’ve seen there. In the morning we were treated to the classic Palouse shots from Steptoe Butte and had some brilliant light turning the hills into a pastel painting. 

All in all our trip to the Palouse had some great variety, which is why I love shooting here. Barns, classic Americana, and stunning hills reminisant of Tuscany can keep landscape photographers busy to no end, especially if you visit from season to season. As the crops are harvested the landscape is ever changing making it a different scene year after year. 

Thanks to all my travelers this year for making this trip so much fun! I didn’t want to leave:)

Texaco Station
Old Texaco Station. Canon 5DMK4 100-40mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f11 1/15 ISO100

Palouse Sign
Coca Cola. Canon 5Dsr 24-105mm f4L IS II f11 1/4 ISO100

Palouse Old Chevy
Old Chevy. Canon 5Ds4r 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f8 1/500 ISO800

Palouse Canola
Photographer in Canola Field. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f5.6 1/750 ISO1600

Palouse Horse
Horse and Barn. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f8 1/500 ISO1600

Sunset Palouse Falls
Palouse Falls. Canon 5DMK4 11-24mm f4L f16 0.7 ISO100

Palouse Steptoe Butte
Steptoe Butte. Canon 5DMK4 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS II f8 1/90 ISO800

 

 

 

Rocky Mountain Front Montana

by 1 Comment

Spring in Montana
Sawtooth Ridge and Arrowleaf Balsamroot. Canon 5Dsr 16-35mm f4L IS f16 1/6 ISO400

As I’m catching up on some much overdue editing here, I thought I would share a few images from this year’s Rocky Mountain Front Photography Workshop in Montana. We timed it just right this year with spectacular wildflowers and perfect weather. Spring in Montana is pretty hard to beat, especially in the foothills of the Rocky Mountain Front, enjoy!

Montana Sunset
Rocky Mountain Sunset. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II f8 1/500 ISO800

Rocky Mountain Front
Sunset over Egg Mountain. Canon 5Dsr 24-105mm f4L II f16 1.5″ ISO100

Arrowleaf Balsamroot Montana
Montana Wildflowers. Canon 5Dsr 16-35mm f4L II f16 0.5″ ISO100

Fence Art
Montana Love. Canon 5Dsr 24-105mm f4L IS II f5.6 1/30 ISO1600

Washington Palouse Workshop

by 2 Comments

Palouse Washington
A yellow crop duster over the Palouse. Canon 7DmkII 500mm f4L IS, 1.4X f8 1/500 ISO800

Now that my spring and summer workshops are winding down I thought I would share a few images from this past June’s Palouse Workshop. We had an amazing group of travelers on this trip and some of the best conditions I’ve seen in Palouse over the last few years! The hues of greens and yellows were pretty epic and we also had some great old barns and the usually old americana that you can find throughout the area. We also had some pretty spectacular crops of canola and mustard seed, giving us at times almost blinding fields of brilliant yellows, adding some nice landscape foregrounds around the Colfax area.

Windmill Palouse
Mustard Seed Field and Windmill. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II. f16 1/1250 ISO800

At Steptoe Butte, we had the usually great crowd of photographers, getting to see some familiar faces from years previous and I think everyone was pretty pleased with the views we had up top this year. The greens were amazing and the light cooperated more often than not, giving us the classic overlook views of the Palouse. We were treated again this year to one of the yellow crop dusters making some passes in front of us, adding a nice element in the sea of green.

Overall it was an awesome trip and I’m anxiously awaiting next years!

Palouse Barns
Red Barn, Palouse. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II f11 1/30 ISO100

Palouse Workshop
Palouse Landscape. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II f11 1/6 ISO100

Patriotic Palouse
Patriotic Heart Barn, Palouse. Canon 5Dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II. f8 1/180 ISO800

Palouse Barns
Dahmen Barn, Palouse. Canon 5Dsr 16-35mm f4 IS f16 1/15 ISO100

Palouse Photo Workshop
View from Steptoe Butte, Palouse. Canon 5Dsr 500mm f4L IS II f8 1/125 ISO100

 

 

 

Olympic National Park

by Leave a Comment

Photography Workshop
Photographer at Olympic N.P. Canon 7DmkII 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II f8 1/1500 ISO1600

Had a phenomenal workshop this year at Olympic National Park! Such a fantastic and great group of travelers and conditions in Olympic’s rainforest were looking better than ever. Our weather cooperated with only one day of serious rain and we managed to get some sunsets on a couple days of our ocean and seascape work down at Ruby and Rialto beaches. One of my favorite things about photographing Olympic is its diversity. We can be in the lush rainforests one minute and move over to the beaches the next. Later in the year the high alpine areas open up and ample images await up on Hurricane Ridge in the park’s northeast corner of the park.

I’m already looking forward to next year’s workshop and will be opening up 2017 to six spots on this workshop.

Here’s a few from this year:

Olympic National Park
Rialto Beach at sunset. Canon 5dsr 24-70mm f2.8 II, f11 1/6 ISO100

Washington Rainforest
Bunchberry and Ferns. Canon 5dsr 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II, f16 1″ ISO400

Olympic National Park
Ruby Beach. Canon 5dsr 24-70 f2.8L II, f11 15″ ISO100

 

Palouse Photography Workshop

by Leave a Comment

Washington Palouse

Hard to believe spring is already here! It’s definitely time to get back to the blog and I have unfortunately been neglecting it during my travels this winter. Plus I have been secretly enjoying some time away from the computer:) But alas it’s time to get back to it, I’ll be posting regular updates from this spring and summer on workshops, travel, and new images from around the western U.S.

On another note, we’ve just had two last minute spots open up on the Palouse Workshop in Washington State. This is a landscape photographer’s paradise and one of my favorite locations out west to photograph. If you’re itching to get out west and explore the pastel hills of the Palouse, visit my workshops page at www.jasonsavagephotography.com/workshops to secure your spot.

In the meantime happy shooting out there!

Spring Photography Workshops

by Leave a Comment

Oregon Waterfalls
Elowha Falls, Oregon. Canon 5D MarkIII, 16-35mm f4L IS. f16 1″ ISO100

Well I’m finally back home after a busy spring in the Pacific Northwest. I had some fantastic travelers and amazing destinations this year. April I was out in Oregon working the Columbia River Gorge, exploring some new locations and it really seems like the waterfalls here are just endless. The more I explore further into both Oregon and Washington the more I am amazed I what I keep stumbling upon. Beyond the green and waterfalls, wildflowers were early this year and I was fortunate enough to catch them at the beginning of the month, but towards the end of April things were definitely winding down, still some great stuff though.

Olympic National Park
Ruby Beach, Washington. Canon 1DX, 16-35mm f4L IS. f4 0.3″ ISO3200

The month of May had me tromping around one of my absolute favorite locations in the western U.S., Olympic National Park. I can never get enough of Olympic Peninsula’s rainforests and the endless compositions you can find as you wander through the old growth sitka spruces and big leaf maple trees. We also had great beach stuff as well, visiting the iconic Ruby beach and Rialto and lucking out with some pretty sweet sunsets while photographing the seascapes.

Washington Waterfalls
Palouse Falls, Washington. Canon 5D Mark III, 11-24mm f4L. f4 30″ ISO1600

June I was in Washington’s Palouse region and had a fantastic trip photographing the soft rolling hills of eastern Washington and visiting the many classic barns throughout the area. We also had a fun night photographing Palouse Falls under the milky way while a group of fun and wild photographers lent their light painting skills and helped light up the falls. All in all a great trip and one of my favorite areas to shoot close to home.

It’s nice to be back in the mountains of Montana though and to see all the new life that’s happening here in the Bitterroot Valley.  We’re beginning to see arrival of new fawns in our backyard, nesting birds, and young goslings growing up. Summer is officially here. In a couple weeks I will be heading back out to Washington’s Olympic peninsula, this time on official family vacation with the promise of putting down the cameras and soaking it up at Lake Crescent for the week:)

In July I will be gearing up for more Glacier National Park workshops and should have some more stuff to share soon. Thanks to all the great travelers on my workshops this year, you all have truly made it such a pleasure and a whole heck of a lot of fun being out there doing what we do!

Montana’s National Bison Range

by Leave a Comment

Montana Wildlife
Bison and Montana sky. Canon 5D markIII 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II. f8 1/1500 ISO400

It’s nice to be back doing some photography in Montana! It’s been a busy couple months getting caught up on print orders and traveling for workshops and now finally having a little time to sneak out for some photography in western Montana before I head back out. Things are looking spectacular out here right now and are only getting better. The National Bison Range is just a short drive from where we live in the Bitterroot and one of my favorite locations to photograph in the Mission Valley. Arrow-leaved balsamroots are in bloom, baby bison running around and snow still on the peaks. I only wish I had more time to spend here! Out last night I had some good luck with Yellow-headed blackbirds and some nice backlight work with the Bison. The light was also pretty nice on the Mission Mountains at sunset:) What I love about the Bison range is that even though it’s boundaries are small, it has so many rich elements in one area. The wildlife is usually within decent working distances, great bird habitat and you can’t beat the geography and the Missions as a backdrop. Lots of potential and you never know what you’re going to come away with. Looking forward to more trips this summer!

Montana Birds
Yellow-headed Blackbird. Canon 1DX, 500mm f4L IS II, 2X tc. f11 1/1500 ISO1600

Montana Sunset
Mission Mountain Sunset. Canon 5D markIII, 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L IS II. f11 1/20 ISO100

 

Pacific Northwest Photography Workshops

by

Photography Workshops

I’m very excited for our upcoming 2015 Pacific Northwest Photography Workshops! This year I will be leading trips to some of my favorite locations at the Columbia River Gorge, Olympic National Park, and Washington’s Palouse. There’s only a few spots left on these so feel free to email me or visit my workshops page for details and to reserve your spot.

World Wetlands Day

by

Snow Geese Audubon
Snow Geese, Freezeout Lake, Montana.

Happy World Wetlands Day!

Every spring hundreds of thousands of Snow Geese stopover at Montana’s Freezeout Lake and surrounding wetlands, creating an amazing display of birds against the Rocky Mountain Front. In little over a month we’ll be seeing scenes like this again.