STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Construction began on Elwha Dam at river mile five in 1910, blocking all fish passage above it for the next century.

Veteran Seattle Times staff photographer Steve Ringman worked the story about the Elwha Dam removal for more than a year with reporter Lynda Mapes and video editor Genevieve Alvarez. In this post, Steve writes about his experiences:

Shooting this aerial of the Elwha dam was pretty easy because the weather was so good. We took the door off of the Cessna and circled the dam which was backlit--exposing manually so the forest wasn't blown out. I like flying so leaning way out to avoid the wing and landing gear is natural. Always double check your seatbelt! Shooting the Glines Canyon Dam was harder because it's in the Olympic National Park which means you have to stay above 3,000 feet.

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Elder Adeline Smith talks about growing up on the Elwha River.

Elwha elder Adeline Smith, 93, was a beautiful subject. I shot mostly video and a few stills as she spoke about her memories of the Elwha River. Sunlight coming through a single window in her home created studio-like light as she sat on her couch. She's turning away in thought before looking back at reporter Lynda Mapes to answer a question. Video is great in these moments because it's so quiet.

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Every year, chinook salmon still come back to the pool below Elwha Dam, where they have been blocked from continuing their journey to spawning grounds upstream since construction began on the dam in 1910. Contractors are taking down Elwha and Glines Canyon dams in the largest dam-removal project ever.

Biologists from the tribe took Lynda and I to a rock bluff overlooking the base of the Elwha Dam to see where the giant Chinook are stopped in their efforts to get upstream to spawn. We had to crawl out to the edge or they would spook into the depths--the photographs were taken "Hail Mary" style--holding the camera out over the edge and shooting without looking through the viewfinder.

STEVE RINGMAN/ THE SEATTLE TIMES

Oceanographer Daniel Hernandez, part of the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, strains to pull a seining net on a side channel of the Elwha River in an effort to capture and count all the fish in the area.

Photographing oceanographer Daniel Hernandez pulling on a seining net in the Elwha wasn't hard. What was hard was keeping up with him all day as he and other scientists gathered baseline science data out of the river. I soon found that having great waders with felt boots was a must when literally running around in the river with all my camera gear.

STEVE RINGMAN/ THE SEATTLE TIMES

Ecologist Keith Denton pulls his way up a tributary of the Elwha River counting fish in a designated area. He was part of a team organized by George Pess from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center doing baseline science all along the Elwha before the dams are removed.

I do underwater photography the cheap way---put the camera into a fish tank, turn it on, and follow the subjects in shallow water. I push the tank along, hitting the shutter as I walked and crawled while making sure water wouldn't rush in. I shot lots of video this way too. Video editor Genevieve Alvarez threatened to create an outtakes video of my mumbled curses while fumbling to make this all work.

STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES

A collection of photos show some of the variety of native seeds gathered for use when the dams are removed.

These native seeds were drying in a greenhouse in Sequim. This was one of those "dial a photo" moments--beautiful subjects, perfect directional soft light, easy to shoot. I just leaned over each tray that was drying in the greenhouse and knew they would look good as a group. I walked away smiling.