Hi Brian,


I am originally from the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle/Vancouver, B.C.area that time of year typically has excellent weather. You could go a lot of different directions and ultimately get a mix of urban, scenic and wildlife photography:
  1. Seattle itself is very nice with Pike's Place Market, Capital Hill, etc
  2. San Juan Islands (North ~ 2 hours). A quick ferry ride, but a good mix of scenic and wildlife photography. I've only been there once, but supposedly there is a point that Orca sightings are frequent. I didn't see any on my trip, but that is wildlife for you.
  3. Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens (South ~2 hrs). The devistation of Mt. St. Helens is both impressive and excellent to photograph.
  4. Olympic National Park (West2.5 hrs to the start of the park and4.5 hrsto thefar side). Impressive mountains and very cool beaches.
  5. Victoria, B.C.---the town itself isgreat,historic buildings, etc...but also Butchart Gardens. (Ferry from Port Angeles/Olympic NP, San Juan Islands, Seattle or Vancouver)
  6. Vancouver has a number of parks/vistas to mix in with an urban setting.
  7. North Cascades National Park (2-3 hrs). More scenic photography.



My general point is that in 4 days you could probably easily take on 2-3 of the above either bytraveling in a loopor by using Seattle or Vancouver as a home base.


Other suggestions:
  1. Yellowstone and Grand Tetons NPs. A classic and an incredible mixture of geysers, wildlife, canyons, mountains and waterfalls. But any close airport is going to be pretty small (Jackson, WY).
  2. South Utah NP (Bryce/Zion/Canyonlands). I flew into Las Vegas a few years ago and did about 4 day trips, Zion, Death Valley, Hoover Dam and Red Rocks.
  3. San Francisco. Great city to photography, especially with Golden Gate Bridge/Alcatraz, etc, but head north and you have Muir Woods, Point Reyes National Sea Shore, Mount Tam, and Napa/Sonoma Valleys (if you are so inclined). Head south and you have Monterey, Big Sur, etc.East--Yosemite Valley is 3.5-4 hrs. I like flying into Oakland, but SFO, of course,works well too.
  4. If you like beaches, Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Block Island...all are a few hours from Boston or Providence. Weather in New England is pretty hit or miss, but Augustseems to be more consistently nice.



Ok, I want to travel now (and I am headed to Acadia at the end of the month)...but first, I need to buy more and better lenses.


Good Luck,


Brant