Landscape photography pacific northwest photography pnw road trip snow Washington weather winter winter photography
Hello. My name is Paul Marcoe and I’ve lived in Washington State my entire life. I love the Pacific Northwest and sharing the beauty of this area through my nature photography. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
I’ve always had a passion for photography but mostly as a casual observer. I started with a 35mm film camera back in 1992 while taking a photography class in college. I learned a lot during that class, lighting, subject matter, capturing emotion in a single picture. However, I had other interests as well and was pursuing a degree in business technology. I received my degree, got married, and started a career in technology in 1994.
Flash forward to 2020. What a year right? The one thing I decided while sitting at home in lockdown was I was going to pursue my passion for becoming a photographer. At least as a hobby. I dove into online classes, purchased an entry-level Nikon D3500 kit camera, and was off and running! That little camera was perfect. Relatively inexpensive, easy to use and learn on, and took really good pictures.
I wanted something that if I got bored with the hobby I wouldn’t be out too much money, and I could still use it for family pictures and trips. What I learned with that camera is I LOVED photography! I was getting up at 3 AM to catch a sunrise at Mount Rainier National Park, or driving for 2 hours to catch a sunset.
I also quickly realized that I underestimated the camera purchase and decided to jump into something a little more professional, without breaking the bank that is. After much research, watching my favorite Youtubers, and looking for sales, I settled on the FujiFilm x-t4. I realized that I didn’t need a full-frame camera for what I was doing. The Fuji x-t4 is what is considered a crop sensor camera (more on this in a later blog perhaps). For my type of photography, this was more than enough. It is relatively lightweight, stylish (yes that’s right, stylish) and from what I found was very well received in the industry.
But that’s all about the gear. If you are interested in what I use, my camera, lenses, etc, you can find it all listed on my website here. After I got accustomed to my new gear, I started to focus more on composition. Put simply, the composition is how the subject matter or elements of your photo are arranged in the frame. I’m no expert at this point, but I feel that I’ve grown a lot as a photographer. Someone once said, keep it simple stupid. In other words, keep your composition simple. I found that just rolling up to a beautiful location, jumping out of your car, and snapping some pics wasn’t enough. You need to plan, think and execute. Sure, you can get some good pictures without the planning, but can you get GREAT pictures? Most likely not. I was and always will be shooting for great!
So, that’s a little about me, my gear, and my journey so far. And my first blog post! If this is well received I’ll dive deeper into content, locations I visit, how I scope out a location, etc. Here are a few of my favorite pics from the past 18 months. Thank you!
Some of my favorite photos from 2020-2021
Explore · Take a Picture · Tell a Story
Paul Marcoe is a landscape photographer from Washington State and his gallery can be found at paulmarcoe.com. All images ©Paul Marcoe.
Paul Marcoe Photography 
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