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A Photographer’s Guide to The Oregon Coast
Six lessons on the road with travel photographer and Canon Explorer of Light Rick Sammon.
Check the tide chart. Boots on. Watch the waves. Filters off into the sun. Expose for the highlights. Find the gesture. Stay after sunset.
The Oregon Coast doesn’t reward luck. It rewards timing — and Rick hands you his.
$199/year · 30-day money-back guarantee 4.8 “Excellent” · 1,843 reviews on Trustpilot
About the course
n A Photographer’s Guide to The Oregon Coast, Rick Sammon takes you down Highway 101 from Haystack Rock to Bandon — Cape Kiwanda, Newport, Devil’s Punchbowl, and Cape Perpetua in between — and shows you where to stand, when to be there, and how to compose and expose each scene. Working from more than 100 of his own photographs, he covers the tides, timing, gear, and safety that make or break a coastal trip. Mirrorless or iPhone, you’ll come home with the mood of the place, not just a record of it.
Why this course matters
Most photographers treat a famous location like a checklist: drive up, shoot the view, drive on.
Rick treats it like a subject you have to learn, and he shows you how: wait out the light after sunset, slow the shutter when the water has something to say, build depth with a foreground, go close-up when the sky goes gray. You’ll also learn what guessing costs: a cave underwater on the wrong tide, a sneaker wave with no warning, a sunset you missed because you were still driving. Rick has made this trip seven times. You get to skip the first six.
What you’ll learn
The coast, in five rules
In the order Rick works every stop.
Plan the trip before you pack the car
When to go, how long to stay, what to wear on the rocks, and the three apps — PhotoPills, Windy, and a tide chart — that put you in the right place at the right time.
Read the tide chart before the light
Devil’s Punchbowl and the tide pools are only open on a schedule — and sneaker waves, rip currents, and incoming water don’t announce themselves.
Expose for the highlights
Rick’s rule for shooting into the sun: a crisp sun disc, detail in the sky, and the histogram check that confirms it.
Find the gesture in moving water
Quarter-, half-, and one-second exposures at the surf and the river light, so the water has shape instead of mush.
Make a photograph when the light is bad
Go black and white with boosted contrast, go macro at your feet, or try intentional camera movement in the forest.
Across all six lessons, from the planning checklist to the last light at Bandon.
Watch Lesson 3. Free. No signup.
No credit card either. North Coast: Break the Rules at Haystack Rock is streaming in full right here. Press play and see exactly how Rick teaches before you spend a dime.
That’s one full lesson, free. The other five are ready when you are.
What’s inside
Sixteen stops. Six lessons.
Highway 101, north to south. Swipe the route and tap a stop to open its lesson — or tap any lesson below.
The six lessons
Tap any lesson to see what’s covered.
Rick maps the route — Cannon Beach to Bandon, north to south — and previews the stops before walking you through the trip, photograph by photograph.
When to go, how long to stay, what to wear on the rocks, and the three apps — PhotoPills, Windy, and a tide chart — that put you in the right place at the right time. Plus the sneaker-wave and tide warnings every coastal photographer needs to hear.
Haystack Rock at low tide: center the horizon for reflections, lose the filters when you shoot into the sun, and go black and white when the light goes flat. Then intentional blur in Ecola’s forest, macro at Hug Point, and gesture in the surf at Cape Kiwanda.
The longest leg: sea lions in Newport Harbor, jellyfish through aquarium glass, abstracts in a nautical junkyard, f/22 starbursts at Yaquina Bay Bridge, wide-angle inside Devil’s Punchbowl, shutter speeds at Thor’s Well, and sunset at Heceta Head Lighthouse.
Bandon’s finale: Face Rock early and late, a crisp sun disc from exposing for the highlights, horses galloping past the sea stacks (and how Rick arranges it), bracketed long exposures at Coquille River Light, and a composition workout on Minor White’s Wall at Shore Acres.
Rick wraps up the trip and points you to the Discuss Course button to ask questions, share your shots, and connect with members planning their own drive down 101.
All 6 lessons are streaming right now. Join KelbyOne for just 54¢ a day →
Who’s teaching you
Learn from a photographer who knows this coast mile by mile
Your instructor
Rick Sammon is a travel photographer, Canon Explorer of Light, and the author of more than three dozen photography books. He’s photographed more than 100 destinations around the world and still teaches workshops every year — practical, curious, and focused on the picture in front of you. The Oregon Coast is one of the places he keeps going back to. Here, he hands you the whole trip.
From the course
See the coast through Rick’s lens
Four of the 100+ photographs Rick walks you through, stop by stop. Tap any frame to see it full size.
Loved by members
You’re in good company
Rated 4.8 out of 5 — “Excellent” — across 1,843 reviews on Trustpilot.
More than one course
This course is just the beginning
A Photographer’s Guide to The Oregon Coast comes with your KelbyOne membership — and so does everything below. Tap any benefit to see what’s included.
The full KelbyOne library covers photography, Lightroom, and Photoshop from first principles to professional technique — portraits, landscape, travel, studio and flash, wedding, sports, street, food, fashion, business, and more. Every course is taught by a working pro, broken into focused lessons you can watch in any order, and available to stream whenever you want. Start a class on your lunch break, finish it that night, and come back to it any time you need a refresher.
KelbyOne releases a new course every single week, so your membership is worth more the longer you hold it. New techniques, new gear, new software releases, and new instructors are added continuously — meaning the latest in photography and post-processing is always waiting for you, and you'll never pay extra for it.
Not sure what to watch next? Curated learning tracks sequence the right courses in the right order so you build skills step by step instead of jumping around. The Photographer's Fast Track is designed to save you years of trial and error, and your progress is tracked along the way so you always know what you've finished and what's next.
Your membership includes a growing toolkit of free Lightroom presets, Photoshop brushes, and other downloadable resources you can put to work right away. Many courses also include downloadable practice files so you can follow along with the exact images the instructor is using — learning by doing, not just watching.
Stream on your computer, phone, tablet, or Apple TV and pick up right where you left off on any device. The KelbyOne app also lets you download classes for offline viewing, so you can keep learning on a plane, a road trip, or anywhere without a connection. Your account works anytime, anywhere.
Learning is easier with people in your corner. KelbyOne members are a welcoming, genuinely helpful community — the kind who go out of their way to answer questions and help you progress. When a technique doesn't click, there's a place to ask, and real photographers at every level who are happy to help.
If you're unhappy for any reason, contact us within the first 30 days of an annual membership (or the first 7 days of a monthly membership) and we'll gladly cancel and issue a full refund. You also get access the moment you join, and you can cancel anytime from your account page. There's nothing to lose by trying it.
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$249$199/year
About 54¢ a day · billed once a year · $40 less than paying monthly
Get this course plus 1,000+ more with an annual KelbyOne membership, with a new course every week. Still deciding? Watch the free lesson first and see for yourself.
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★★★★★ Rated 4.8 “Excellent” on Trustpilot · 30-day money-back guarantee
Everything included
- This course — A Photographer’s Guide to The Oregon Coast, all 6 lessons
- Full access to all 1,000+ courses
- A new course every week, at no extra cost
- Guided learning tracks & the Photographer's Fast Track
- Free presets, brushes & downloadable practice files
- Watch on desktop, mobile, tablet & Apple TV — even offline
- Friendly, helpful member community
Still on the fence?
Start monthly at $19.99/mo and switch to annual anytime. Heads up: paying month-to-month works out to $239.88 a year — $40 more than going annual.
Backed by a 100% Money-Back Guarantee
Not happy for any reason? Contact us within the first 30 days of an annual membership (or the first 7 days of a monthly membership) and we'll gladly cancel and issue a full refund. You get access the moment you join.
Questions? Answered.
Everything you need to know
Right away. The moment you join, you can sign in and start watching A Photographer’s Guide to The Oregon Coast — and every other course in the library — immediately, on any device.
Absolutely. KelbyOne has courses for every skill level, taught in plain language, step by step. This course meets you where you are, and the rest of the library grows with you as you improve.
No. Rick shoots this trip with a mirrorless camera and an iPhone, and every technique works with either. Lesson 2 covers the practical gear you’ll actually want: waterproof boots, a park pass, and three free apps for light, wind, and tides.
Annual is the best value by a wide margin: $199 for a full year (regularly $249) works out to about 54¢ a day and saves you $40 compared to paying month-to-month ($239.88/year). Monthly is there if you'd rather start small — and you can switch to annual anytime.
Yes. Cancel whenever you like from your account page and you'll keep access until your membership period ends. You're also covered by our money-back guarantee — 30 days on annual, 7 days on monthly — so there's no risk in trying it.
Yes. Stream on desktop, mobile, tablet, and Apple TV, and pick up right where you left off on any device. The KelbyOne app also lets you download classes to watch offline — on a plane, a road trip, anywhere.
Of course — KelbyOne has members all over the world. All prices are listed in US dollars (USD), so just keep your local exchange rate in mind at checkout and renewal.
Yes. Watch the trailer at the top of this page, then scroll down to Lesson 3, North Coast: Break the Rules at Haystack Rock, which is free to watch in full. No signup or credit card needed. If you like how Rick teaches, the rest of the course is one membership away.
The Oregon Coast is waiting.
Rick’s already scouted it.
Join KelbyOne today and stream A Photographer’s Guide to The Oregon Coast — plus 1,000+ more courses from the world’s best instructors — with a single membership.
Join KelbyOne & Start Watching$249 $199/year · about 54¢ a day · Money-back guarantee