corwinprescott

Nicole Vaunt, Alice X and Amber Rose McConnell for We Were Wanderers

Added 2017-05-09 16:51:28 +0000 UTC

We drove from the coast inland for a few hours. The weather north through Oregon along the pacific looked like a mess, so in an attempt to do something different, fun, and less rain soaked we decided to drive to a place I'd been thinking about shooting for years, Umpqua Hot Springs.

As far as Hot Springs go, Umpqua is one of the least traveled hot springs you can find. Its not a luxury pool/spa fed from springs you can't see somewhere up the mountain. You have to drive deep into Umpqua National Forest nearly to crater like, down a pot hole filled dirt road and then a short hike straight up the mountain side, and then you arrive at this amazing hot spring with very few amenities, and very few people. It is pretty remote, pretty undeveloped, and that is what put it high on our list of locations because as a result it is incredibly beautiful.

We arrived late in the afternoon and there were a handful of people there. Normally this would be sort of a problem given our work, but in Oregon public nudity is legal, and Umpqua is a clothing optional hot springs, so we just walked over to an unclaimed pool with no one around and started shooting.

To say this place is magical would be an understatement. The soft north west light came through the clouds giving us beautiful soft light to shoot in high above the river, and surrounded by magnificent pines. We opened a couple beers we brought with us, and for a remarkable change, we just sat around relaxing after taking photos. Normally we shoot, throw clothing back on, and make an expedited get away.

It was amazing for once to feel free from that rather stressful routine. The Redwoods (coming soon) had been a much more stressful endeavor. A few days of beautiful weather, and memorial day weekend had brought an unexpectedly large amount of tourists out that we spent a lot of time artfully dodging in between our short bursts of artful shooting. We all needed a day of leisure, and non-stress filled shooting.

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