A Little Closer to the End - First Reflections

Sitting in Sea-Tac airport, waiting for a flight. So far everything fine and on-time. Have some (a lot of) time so thought I would reflect on the trip.

Location

I originally applied for the residency at Newhalem on the west side of the cascades; Stehekin seemed too remote, accessible only by boat or float plane. When I didn't get the residency at Newhalem, they called and asked if they could forward my application to Stehekin, I said yes, and when Stehekin offered I accepted.

It is apparently a very different environment in Newhalem on the west side of the Cascades, with much more rain, mossy trees, etc. The east side of the Cascades at Stehekin is in the rain shadow and much, much dryer.

After applying to Newhalem it occurred to me to check how much it would cost to get there. The actual flight wasn't bad, but at $200+ per week for a rental car, and probably close to 4 weeks, the rental car would have been a killer. As it worked out, although I had to pay about $200 (RT) for car service from Wenatchee to Chelan, the Stehekin trip turned out to be much more affordable; although I did have an additional $45 cost for the ferry. Mark (the park service lead on the residency program) tried to arrange a ride with park service staff, but nothing worked out. I think there might have been a much cheaper public shuttle bus, but I would have needed to find the station or get a cab there, follow their schedule, shlep luggage, etc. It was probably worth the cost to get the direct car service.

Working at Stehekin was probably for the best in some ways, certainly less rain probably meant more effective working days, less expensive, and the truck provided by the Park Service really made a huge difference and greatly increased my productivity (thank you all). On the other hand I would eventually like to try the west side because I really like those biologically rich wet environments. Might have been better sunsets too: since Stehekin is in a valley, the mountains just block the sun and you never really get those red/orange sunsets. In terms of the overall experience however, the community involvement at Stehekin was probably greater and a very positive experience.

One issue that came up was a relatively large amount of snow on some of the upper trails. There was significantly more snow than usual the past winter and a cool spring, otherwise there might have been more trails readily available. (Given my aching hips I am not sure whether to classify that limitation as a plus or minus.)

Living

The "Imus" cabin was fine. One thing I wished I had known: they had a microwave. One thing I missed was a toaster or toaster oven. Probably should have brought some music CDs, and better hiking boots. A heavy hooded sweatshirt with a rain jacket/wind breaker worked well for the first week and a half when it was relatively cool, with some afternoon rain.

Ordering groceries through Safeway (ph. 509-682-2615; fax 509-682-0235), with pick up by the ferry service (just tell them you have a "boat order") worked fine. If possible go the first time, or if you have Safeway at home, get a safeway club card in advance. I saved $30 on my first order. Saved on second order too. It costs about $7.50 for each order on the ferry and Safeway may post an additional service charge to shop for you. If you order by phone be as explicit and specific as possible (brand names, sizes, acceptable substitutes, etc.) . I heard a story several times of someone who ordered hummus (a middle eastern spread) and ended up with humus (compost). Overall the service is necessary, and generally well-done, if not perfect. It is a full-sized Safeway with all of the name brand products you would find anywhere.

Camera Gear

Usually I use my 70-200/2.8 extensively for landscapes, much less so here because the mountains are so close. After some experience what I usually put in the camera pack was:

12-24/4.0 mm Tokina
35 - 70/2.8 mm Nikkor
105 mm micro Nikkor
1.4 tele-extender (Soligor)
24 mm 2.8 Nikkor
polarizer for all lenses
diffuser

Towards the end of the trip I did use the 70-200 mm more often and was glad I brought it to isolate some peaks and/or capture a narrower light/tonal range.

I brought a 200 mm micro which is great if I didn't need to walk too far from the truck because of its weight, but it really diffused the backgrounds and made smaller flowers like the Calypso orchids pop. I used a diffuser for flowers fairly often because you often get patchy sunlight through the trees. The 100 mm was half the weight and much easier to handle on narrow trails where a greater working distance could actually be a disadvantage.

The 24 mm had a much different perspective than the 12-24 at 24, and is much more rectilinear with less distortion. I often took similar shots with the 12-24@24 and the 24 for later comparison.

My new Gitzo tripod (GT3530S) was great, really worked perfectly for me even on the narrow trails and the ground level ability was great. (I'm short, so I didn't need the taller version.) Used the circular bubble level frequently for pans. The lighter 6X carbon fiber really helped with the weight while hiking too. I have Markins ball head which worked fine.

The 35-70/2.8 was very heavy although probably sharper than the 35-70/4-5.6 I used previously. I bought it specifically for this trip beause I thought I would probably use it a lot - and I did. But with all of the hiking, the weight was a killer. A better, although much more expensive purchase would have been a 24-70 mm because on more than one occasion I really wanted that slot between 24 and 35 mm.

Talking about weight and hiking- that was a big difference from my photo trips that are usually car-based. I did some physical conditioning before leaving, wearing a 25 lb weight vest while on the treadmill at about 3.5% incline. Should have done more of that at a 4% incline, but it probably helped. The hiking also got easier as I did more. Should have done more biking because I tried to use the bike the NPS also provided unless I needed to carry something. Which reminds me, I brought a small day pack that came with my LowePro PhotoTrekker AWII. Should have thought of it sooner for biking to carry small items or as I shed layers.

Speaking of the PhotoTrekker - it probably would have fit in the overheads, but exceeded the official measurements, and I was afraid to take a chance that they would stop me at the gate, so I put lenses in cases when I had them, and wrapped the camera and other lenses in bubble wrap, and put it in a standard overnight carry on. It worked well. I shipped my backpack, with backup camera and spare lenses back via parcel post. It is also very heavy by itself. However, it worked flawlessly with the hip belts and chest strap helping a lot to distribute the weight, even going up steep trails. For transport, it would have helped a lot if the very bulky hip belts could be detached.

I was really glad I brought a printer so I could readily share prints. The Park Service provided a wall in the Visitor's Center where I could put them up with double-sided tape. Except next time, instead of shipping my big, heavy Epson R2400, I would purchase a less expensive 8.5 x 11 photo quality printer and what I saved on shipping would pay for most of the printer. Unlike the Maine residency, here I brought only letter sized paper, and printed two 5 x 7" proofs on each page. That seemed to work well.

Because of the TSA restrictions and strict carry-on policies by the airlines, I really don't like to fly with photo equipment, although there really weren't any significant problems. However, in the future, I am probably going to apply only for residencies that I can drive to. In addition, I expect that my job would be reluctant to allow me take almost a month off again. Overall, in both Washington and Maine the Artist-In-Residence Program has been a very positive one and I will continue to apply for such opportunities. The next one I would really like is in Florida where I would like to do a lot of macro work or in Michigan at Pictured Rocks. I could take the car train down from Virginia to Florida or drive to Michigan in about a day and half. We will see what the future will bring.

If you are considering a residency at Stehekin feel free to comment to me through this blog or contact me directly at richeskinphoto@verizon.net .