Raymond Washington

I spent the entire month of September on the road. I Should do it more often! My MOO was get up before dawn to find a great place to shoot the dawn and early morning, all pre-planned. Come back to the motel and eat, pack the car and set off with no more than 150 miles to drive to the next intended stop. Not once did I get to my destination in less than 5 hours. There was lots of double-backing and what not. Something you can really only do alone. Come about 2 or 3 pm I would hit the next locale suitable for the potential sunset and dawn sessions. Check into the motel and work my business for a few hours. While I cannot get away with short hours forever, it works for a month. I usually went for an early meal and then got to the sunset hours location. Upon return from that session I could get another hour of work in before calling it a day only to do the same thing over and over again... I loved it!

One early morning found me in the south of Washington state. I saw what appeared to be a bunch of abandoned buildings off the highway and decided to see what I would find. As long as it does not say "Keep Out" I proceed. The dirt road ends at a massive abandoned wharf that appears to be still usable if needed but otherwise is more than 50% derelict and in a state of decay. A few hundred yards away stands, what appears to be, a "Storybook" lumber mill. Like something out of the 1950's. That's because it is. Today it is run by Weyerhauser, producing Douglas fir construction lumber. The town grew from the fledgling lumber industry in the mid 1800's and was officially incorporated in 1907. It was named after the first postmaster. In 1913 the population was 6000. One hundred years later it is less than half that.

The light was perfect and everywhere I looked were compositions for the taking. I exclusively shot with my 24-70 Tamron on my Canon 5D3. It gave me just the right amount of flexibility. Soon, it was fast becoming too bright and I worked at a feverish pace. It was an athletic event! The result was a collection of probably more than 50 shots which I have worked down to 20 or so, all of which I am proud of! There were so many ways to tell the story of these pilings.

Interesting Raymond Facts: I learned so much about this little stop when I went to put this story together and am glad I did!

• Raymond is where Nirvana played their first gig in 1987
  • In 2012 Washington State made cannabis legal and the town embraced all aspects of it. It is now a hub for growing, manufacturing and of course, retail sales.
• Between 1912 and 1932 as many as 20 mills lined the waterfront. No wonder there are all these pilings everywhere!

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