Hello,
My name is Shane Clough and I partook in the Total Photography Process – Oregon and Washington STEP trip. For this project, myself and 12 other OSU students traveled to Portland, Oregon where we began a 7-day journey through some of the most unique scenery Oregon and Washington have to offer. Under the guidance of STEP mentor Pat Whittington and professional photographer Tony Small, we were taught how to capture and edit high quality photographs that reflected our personal creativity. By the end of the trip, I had thousands of unique raw images and a selection of edited photographs that I presented to our mentors and fellow students on the trip.
I have to admit that this experience had a much greater impact on my life than I had expected. I mentioned in my STEP Proposal that this trip would be the farthest I have ever been away from home. I can’t reflect on this experience without first sharing my amazement that I was able to travel across the country and explore areas completely unique to anything I have ever seen before. When talking about a changed world view, getting to see the difference in the culture and wilderness between the Midwest and West Coast really expanded my views on sustainable living and coexisting with the natural environment. As per the overall theme of the trip, I also learned a whole lot about nature photography and portraiture. I had very little camera experience before the trip and so I learned a great deal from Pat and Tony about setting up my camera to capture the highest quality images for the various sceneries we visited. This experience also led to a lot of introspection and serious thought on how I face new challenges in my life. It ended up being quite the spiritual endeavor as I battled the fear and anxiety of travelling via plane for the first time.
The difference in culture of the west coast was very apparent as you could see it in the architecture and urban design of the cities. As a proponent for sustainability, especially in infrastructure as a civil engineer, I took special notice how the transit systems differed in Portland compared to Columbus. For starters, the first thing I did in Portland was travel with a few others on the trip from the hotel into the downtown area using the Light Rail System. This transit system was not something I’ve seen before in Ohio and it seemed more efficient than the bus system we have in Columbus. Secondly, I also noticed that Oregon was a lot more bike friendly than Ohio with more and wider designated bike lanes or paths. I got to experience these personally when we biked 3 miles from our hotel outside Bend, Oregon into their downtown area. The lodge had bikes free of charge for us to use and we took a very well-made scenic path straight into town. The ride there was a breeze going downhill, but unexpected rain made the uphill battle back to the lodge a memorable experience. Finally, I noticed the architecture of homes in Oregon was very unique and sustainably designed. I saw many houses with solar panel roofing and lumber facades, which felt reminiscent of the forest in which the houses were adjacent to. I enjoyed this aspect of west coast culture not only for its aesthetics, but for the environmental awareness as well.
Now that I have had this experience, I feel like I am no longer just some guy with a camera, but I truly feel like I can call myself an amateur photographer. I had purchased my camera a few weeks before the trip and went out a couple times to practice with it around campus, but it wasn’t until I started talking with Tony Small that I realized how little I actually knew about photography. The first night on the trip, I went down to the lobby with another student and we got more personalized demonstrations on our cameras capabilities. I had just been using the preset modes of the camera such as landscape, flash off, portrait, etc. but Tony emphasized that his goal was to teach us to manually set our cameras for more personalized settings. I learned how to change aperture, exposure, frame rate, definition, and much more all at a moments notice so that I could capture the best picture possible as I changed the subject of my lens. Tony also taught us how to use Adobe Lightroom, which has honestly become one of my favorite applications on my phone. It is such a rewarding experience to now with ease be able to alter the mood and perspective of a photo to fit the narrative I want to present.
Quite possibly the most influential experience of the trip though was actually the flight there and back. I have had a fear of heights for my entire life and so it was a huge step for me to travel in the air for 4 hours at an altitude 2 miles above the ground. You could almost say that my fear was at its highest point. Luckily, I did not have to do it alone. On one hand, I took a class with another student on the trip the prior semester so she was kind enough to let me stay with her and fly out of Columbus together. On the other, I found myself gripping tightly to my Bible for most of the flight and praying God would ease my fears by getting us there safely. I found myself with a lot of questions as I saw what is often considered mundane and honestly a nuisance to others nearly paralyze me with fear. I sat on the plane for hours far too afraid to stand up, rest my eyes, or even listen to music so I had nothing to do but talk with God. I wrestled with why I was so afraid and what the future held for me. When talking about the topic of self-reflection, truthfully those plane rides contained some of the most honest and crucial introspection I have ever had.
So the big question is: How was I transformed by this experience?
Firstly, my ride in Bend, Oregon has highly motivated me to consider finding housing biking distance from my future jobsite. The bike ride felt almost therapeutic and the exercise will not only keep me healthy, but help me save money as gas as well. I have already had more experience with rail systems as I now take the D.C. Metro system to my internship every day while I am in Virginia for the summer. Honestly, the trip has put in my heart a newfound desire to live out on the West Coast where I can appreciate a way of life very different from here in the Midwest. Secondly, I am extremely excited to continue practicing photography in my daily life. I have already been going out and taking new pictures of our nation’s capitol each weekend while I am in Washington D.C. for the summer. What also excites me about this newfound skill is how I can use it to benefit others in my life. From my experience in engineering, many of us are not the most outgoing individuals and so going to take photographs is not something we commonly do. However, now I feel I have the means to take my friends out and teach them not only to appreciate views of nature, but also photographs of themselves. It is my plan to take senior pictures for free for all my friends so that they can have high quality images of themselves to share with their friends and families. This trip has helped me to realize how meaningful it can be to have tangible memories you can hold onto for a lifetime. Finally, this experience had me face to face with one of my greatest fears, my own mortality. How I find myself transformed is with a much stronger confidence and trust in God that He will see me through my fears and that I am never alone no matter how far I go. I am beyond grateful to OSU for giving me this opportunity to expand my world and I praise God for the journey He brought me on.
‘Peak’ Photography
Waiikeena Falls
Crater Lake
Sport Mode