If you were inspired by the majestic beauty of Washington State’s North Cascades in the first leg of our Pacific Northwest Escape (you can read all about the adventure here), wait until you see the magic of Oregon’s coastline through our lens.
We’re Michelle Moree and Hollis Porter, two photographers from Seattle, Washington, and the couple behind The Remote Unknown. And we’re continuing our journey to bring you even more inspiring locations.
Next stop? The Samuel H. Boardman Scenic corridor — a breathtaking 12 miles of ocean-hugging coastline located between Brookings and Gold Beach Oregon. The coast is filled with short hiking trails, scenic viewpoints, and iconic sea stack rock formations that are nothing short of mesmerizing.
We’ve gathered all skies from the trip locations and have made them available for download from the Pacific Northwest Escape project page. They’re free to use and compatible with LuminarAI as well as other photo-editing software.
How to get there
From Bellingham, Washington, we made our way south on Interstate 5, then cut over to the 101. That took us south along the coastline into Oregon. Craggy bluffs, secluded beaches, and otherworldly rock formations awaited us as we hiked down to the beach for sunset.
When to shoot
Secret Beach is best viewed at sunset during low tide. During high tide, it’s dangerous to walk along the coastline, with waves crashing close to the cove. The southern section can be explored at lower tides when the choke point between two large rocks is open. At very low tides, some further exploring can be done in the pools at the far south end of the beach. We recommend checking the tides before you go. You can use an app called Tides Near Me to find high and low tide times for Oregon. Tide times do change, so make sure you plug in your exact plans.
Shooting Tips
We brought our Sony a7R IV camera along with a 24-70mm Sigma lens and the Sony G Master 70-20mm lens for close-up textures. We also shot on a Canon EOS R5 with an RF 24-70mm lens.
LuminarAI Editing Tips
As we had a beautiful golden hour with minimal clouds, we used LuminarAI to accentuate the natural golden glow in the Landscape panel as well as to give the images a soft light for an ethereal, otherworldly feeling. We also added some sunrays and made some simple AI enhancements in the Essentials section. This particular location is known for either being filled with moody fog or having beautiful light that plays among the unique sea stacks along the shoreline.
Should probably read: Pacific Northwest Escape Mission 2: Driving from Oregon