Snoqualmie Falls Postcard by Outdoor Photo – 8211

I love continuing to spotlight Washington state photographers who made a living capturing the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. One such photographer is award winning Michael W. Siegrist, Sr. who created Outdoor Photo in 1981 after being laid off from his job as a cartographer for the state’s Utilities and Transportation Commission. He turned many of his photos into postcards that were found in more than 600 retailers throughout Washington. This image captures both Snoqualmie Falls and the former Snoqualmie Falls Lodge before it was renovated in the mid-1980s and became Salish Lodge & Spa.

SNOQUALMIE FALLS POSTCARD BY OUTDOOR PHOTO – 8211 | FRONT

Siegrist’s photo of Snoqualmie Falls and the Snoqualmie Falls Lodge was taken at the base of the 268-foot waterfall. Clear blue skies hang over the majestic and sacred spot to the Snoqualmie Tribe. Look carefully and you’ll see people playing on the rocks near the water’s edge. Most likely the photo was taken sometime between 1979 to 1987. I’ve been unable to locate a postmarked image that may indicate the specific date.

In 2023, the Tribe opened a completely remodeled Snoqualmie Falls Gift Shop and Visitor Center containing a gift shop and a small cafe. They also created a fascinating exhibit titled “Our Story Is the Story of the Falls” which documents the history of Snoqualmie Falls from Time Immemorial to modern day. It is believed that Moon the Transformer created the falls and the first Snoqualmie people at this sacred spot.

You can learn more about the importance of the land to the tribe and what you can do to protect, respect and restore it on the Snoqualmie Tribe Ancestral Land Movement website.

SNOQUALMIE FALLS POSTCARD BY OUTDOOR PHOTO – 8211 | BACK

The card was published by Outdoor Photos of Olympia, Washington and is number 8211 in their catalog. The back contains the following description:

“SNOQUALMIE FALLS one of the nation’s top tourist attractions rivals Mount Rainier National Park. Snoqualmie Falls, 100 feet higher than Niagara, hosts nearly a half-million visitors annually. Visitors are awe-struck with the majesty of this waterfall.

In 1898 Puget Power constructed the first major hydro. electric facility in the state within the falls. Snoqualmie Falls Lodge, built on the edge of the 300 foot cliff is famous tor its dining. (Reservations in advance in advance are advised.)

Photo by award winning photographer MICHAEL W. SIEGRIST, SR., Olympia, Washington. One of a collectable postcard series of Washington State.”

WHO IS MICHAEL W. SIEGRIST, SR.?

Michael W. Siegrist, Sr. was an award-winning photographer who spent decades taking photos throughout Washington state. He was born on March 25, 1940 to Wayne and Ila Siegrist in Culver City, California. The family moved to Olympia, Washington in 1945 when Michael was six years old.

At age 19, Michael started working for Boeing Aircraft Company. He then joined the United States Army Security Agency on September 30, 1959. After a three-month stint at Fort Devens, he was deployed to Heilbronn, Germany. On August 11, 1961, he married Sandra Dian Kincy but returned to Germany for a position at  Bad Aibling, a United States Army Security Agency post. Nearly a year after being married, he was was honorably discharged on August 27, 1962.

When he returned to Olympia, he started working as an Engineering Technician III with the Washington State Department of Highways in photogrammetry on December 12, 1966. He was laid off by the state and one of his final freelance assignments before losing his state job was shooting Mount St. Helens for the State Capital Museum. Siegrist then worked for a year-and-a-half as a temporary cartographer for the state’s Department of Natural Resources before making photography his full-time career.

“I get this image in my head about what I want, then I keep working till I get it,” Siegrist told Kamilla K. McClelland in an article from The Olympian on March 27, 1996. “Most people hiking in a park see nothing to take a photo of. I see lots of ideas for photos.”

For his Outdoor Photo company, Siegrist snapped postcard images throughout all of Washington. At one point, copies of the 170 postcards he published were found at 600 retailers statewide. By 1996, he had sold four million postcards! His entire operation was run out of his home once located at 5010 Boston Harbor Road N.E in Bar Harbor, Washington, where he produced about 10 to 20 new postcards a year.

He offered some advice for new photographers in his Olympian article:

• Start at home: Enter the Thurston County Fair’s photography show. Once you start placing in this and other events on a regular basis, you can begin to think about being a professional. “Be creative and get what people want.”
• Start small. If you’re pressed for money, even practicing with an instamatic camera can get you started. But use up a lot of film. “Film is cheap,” Siegrist said. “The more pictures you take, the more you can figure out what you’re doing wrong and fix it.”
• Be careful. “One time I went up Snoqualmie Falls and spent five hours on the side of a cliff waiting for the sun to be in the right position,” Siegrist said. “I’ve risked my life several times. A lot of people have been killed trying to get that picture.”
• Keep your photos in stock. Potential clients need to see copies of your work.
• Get professional training if you need it, said Siegrist, who is self-taught. One well-known school is the Brooks School of Photography in Calif.
• If you love taking pictures and believe you have an eye for the work, don’t let anyone else convince you otherwise. Keep at it.

Michael passed away at the age of 84 on Saturday, September 7, 2024 at 5:30 a.m. following a 9-month battle with liver cancer. He died peacefully at home and was survived by his partner of 21 years, Roseann Pallito.