Behind the dams Behind the dams Behind the dams

I live in North Seattle, and I love trail running. If you have those things in common with me, you’ll know where this is going: I spend a lot of time at Carkeek Park.

Carkeek is a 216-acre forested area tucked into the northwest corner of Seattle. Coyotes, salmon, snakes and eagles are among the wildlife I’ve been excited to spot in the past. But during a run on June 16—on my way to see the beach at an extreme minus tide—I saw a critter who’d left its mark but remained hidden for years (at least during my daytime runs). A beaver!

In the spring of 2023, Carkeek Park got a makeover courtesy of a family of beavers, who built dams that turned part of Piper’s Creek into a pond. (KUOW wrote more about the Carkeek beavers.)

Since that June run, I’ve seen beavers three more times in the park. So, when the UW Magazine editorial team discussed photo shoots for Mike Seely’s feature about Beavers Northwest, I offered, “Go to Carkeek! It’s beaver city!” Jason Clark, our art director, set up a photo shoot with John Lok—whose stunning photography you might recognize from prior features on Terry Morgan, Ben Brockie and UW President Robert J. Jones. I asked him more about the ebbs and flows of art directing this photo shoot.

Caitlin Klask: Can you explain the setup for this photo shoot?

Jason Clark: We went to Carkeek Park for the shoot because it’s been overrun by beaver activity the last few years. There are multiple beaver dams and much of the trail system in the wetlands area is underwater. We were hoping we’d be able to set up Ben [Dittbrenner] and Elyssa [Kerr] in knee-deep water for their photos, and that’s exactly what we found. John scoped out a couple good spots to set up in and we ended up choosing the one that had more reflective water in the background.

Unfortunately that spot wasn’t near any parking areas, so John pulled up with all his gear in a less-than-legal spot and we unloaded it as fast as we could. Half an hour later, John was fully set up in front of a beaver dam and pond with lights on both sides and sandbags keeping all the tripods in place.

How did you select John Lok?

John has so many qualities I value and admire. We both come from a newspaper background and he shares an interest in design, so we’re always on the same page when it comes to the shots we have in mind. He’s enthusiastic and willing to put in extra effort to get the most out of a shoot. And he always does amazing work. For us, that includes photos for our features on Terry Morgan, President Jones, and Ben Brockie. He’s one of my favorite people to work with because the vibes are great and the quality of his work makes my job easy.

For this shoot in particular, I thought John’s photojournalism background might come in handy. We were in an odd setup location with some pretty significant variables—water was everywhere and the trees could potentially cause lighting issues. But of course he embraced all the elements and nailed it. As highly as I thought of John before, he managed to raise the bar even higher with this shoot.

What were some techniques John used that surprised you?

John brought a small aquarium to use as a camera holder so he could get some shots that were partially underwater. He told me this was a last-minute idea he had as he was heading out the door, as he had used the aquarium for a similarly aquatic shoot back when he worked at the Seattle Times. The water at Carkeek ended up being too muddy and murky to use the underwater shots, but he did use that technique for our cover photo.

Elyssa runs Beavers Northwest now so she knew there were beaver dams in Carkeek but hadn’t actually been there in a month or so. She was fascinated by all that had changed in that time. Ben of course founded Beavers Northwest but has been teaching for past few years and hadn’t been to Carkeek in ages, so for him it almost seemed like he was coming back to a childhood home.

As for the dams specifically: It was a mix of excitement and annoyance because while beavers are cool, they’re not the most considerate builders. They had worked around a structure that Beavers Northwest installed and were keeping the entire wetland area underwater. So now Elyssa gets to go figure out the next step in making this a peaceful coexistence.

Elyssa Kerr and Ben Dittbrenner examine a beaver habitat near a structure installed by Beavers Northwest. Photo by John Lok.

Did the crew have any difficulty spotting the beavers?

The beavers generally don’t come out during the day, so we didn’t see any at our afternoon shoot. That was a bit of a bummer because John and I went into the shoot hoping to get a beaver photo. Elyssa and Ben told us the beavers would likely be out and about around dusk, but I had no expectations of John to wait around that long. He decided to give it shot though, and his patience and effort were immediately rewarded. Right at 7 p.m. he saw four beavers going about their business, and he even managed to get an incredible shot of two of them on the same gnawed log. It’s the kind of shot you would expect a wildlife photographer to go out for multiple evenings trying to capture, and getting it right away was a fitting reward for the effort John put in that day.

Photo by John Lok.

You’ve been an art director for a long time. Has a photographer ever volunteered to come back to a photo shoot location just to make sure they get the shot?

Not like that. There are plenty of photographers that treat it like a hobby as well and will spend a lot of their own time trying to get the perfect shot just for the love of the game. But never have I experienced that on a hired shoot. As I said before, John managed to raise the bar even higher with this one.

You mentioned a connection between Beavers Northwest and your wife’s work – what was that about?

My wife works at an environmental consultant firm here in Seattle that does a lot of work with cities and counties involving water management. As I was working on this feature I told her I was going to a photo shoot with “the beaver people” at Carkeek, and she told me she had just started working on a project that involved collaboration with some beaver people. It turns out we had both been emailing Elyssa Kerr independently—me for our photo shoot and my wife for the work Beavers Northwest actually does. My wife and I are both born and raised in Southern California, and this felt like such a beautifully Pacific Northwest coincidence.

Tell us more about the beaver stick!

When John was setting up, I went on a little walk around the park with Ben and Elyssa. They found a new beaver dam and while we were talking it over, Ben went down and grabbed a stick out of the water. All the bark was gnawed off and Ben presented it to me almost as a souvenir, my own personal beaver stick to take home. I knew my wife would love it too, and now it’s sitting in our living room.

Photo by Jason Clark.

What’s your favorite detail about this story?

That Ben sold Elyssa his house. I brought it up when we were walking around Carkeek, and Elyssa turned to Ben and said “how much did you share?!?”

Beavers are controversial critters. Has your opinion on beavers changed because of this feature?

I love beavers, and they’re easy to love in rivers and national forests when they can do their thing in their natural ecosystem. But good lord can they wreak some havoc in developed areas. If anything I think this feature made me proud of the people who are willing to be patient and seek nonlethal solutions while their yards and parks are being flooded. This was the beavers’ home first, and it’s nice to see efforts to coexist with them after centuries of the opposite.

Lead photo: Elyssa Kerr and Ben Dittbrenner prepare for a photo shoot with John Lok. Photo by Jason Clark.