Morning in the Park

We had a real ripper of a storm last evening and as I was doing my morning run I noticed that the trees were pretty well stripped of their leaves.  Following my morning coffee and bagel I headed for a local park that I knew had many hardwoods.  I was not disappointed – piles of multi-colored leaves everywhere.  I know that I am a bit of a sucker for the colors this time of year but finding patterns amid all the color is the trick I think.

I could not pick one single image that displayed all the glorious color in the leaf piles so decided to just make a little poster of some of the better ones.

T’was a dark and stormy night…

I am back to shooting after a week and more spent fighting a very nasty cold.  On Monday I finally got some serious drugs and it took them a while to have full impact but this afternoon I grabbed my camera and headed out to the wetlands.   Perhaps it was mostly my imagination what with Halloween coming along tomorrow night but the sky seemed to have a ghostly and ominous aspect and the wind was blowing hard.  There is magic afoot and fun is in the air. I do hope you all get lots of treats and get tricked only a little bit.

I have heard images like this first one described as god-speak – perhaps  or maybe it is the ghosts shining a light down to check out what it ripe for a haunting visit!!

Either way it sure did appear that a storm was on the way and that we are in for more wet weather in the next few days.  The sun broke through the clouds and just lit up fall colors in the field I was hiking through and it made for what I think is a pleasing image.  It sure was fun to get out and walk in the wilds a bit.  I have been way too house bound.

A new view….

Today I took advantage of the drizzly and rainy weather to work up some of the remaining images from my trip to Eastern OR.  My friend John has been encouraging me spend time examining and learning from the work of a local photographer and teacher at the U of O – Craig Hickman – whose website – Dry Reading - {http://www.pixelpoppin.com/} is very interesting and prompted me to look in different ways.  John took a class from Craig years ago at Evergreen College in Washington and he still remembers it and talked with me about what he carried with him.

The following images are a bit odd/arty – almost found objects – but I like the simplicity in them and the colors that jump out of them. The first is the front of an old safe – weathered and I think looking better than it did when new – perhaps.

This one is from the train depot yard – wonder what the signal meant or directed the trains to do?

Finally I took this last image hand held on the way back to the car after an hour of shooting on the frozen river bed.  John made the comment that our eyes were so open after being on the river that we just seemed more aware of other things after being in the moment and concentrating for so long – I think he was right as I probably walked right by this grass on the way down to river and never noticed it.   I think I have about mined all I can from the images I gathered last week so I will stop pestering you to look.  Hope you enjoyed them.

When the mountains call…

The storms cleared and the mountains were calling this morning as was the autumn color.  The closest place seemed to be the Oregon Scenic Drive just east of Blue River.  The colors along the South Fork of the Mckenzie River are spectacular right now and provided we don’t get a huge storm for a bit I would think they will hold for a few more weeks.  The first image below was taken near Frissell Crossing and is at the upper end of the campground.  I think it may be the only good image I got today but will include a few others just to let you know how beautiful it is up there right now.  I had major camera issues all day long and I think was luck y to get even one good shot.  Settings, settings, settings!!!  I think the digital gnomes came in last night while I was sleeping and reset everything – it was awful!!

And finally a close up example  of the color and pattern that just seem to be everywhere as you drive along.  I may get a few more images from this trip but so far am not real happy with them.  Perhaps there will be another clear day before the snow fills up the roads and I can get out again.  My friend Peggy went with me today and I am so grateful for the company.

Sumpter Valley RR

Just wanted to share a few images with you from a morning that John and I spent shooting in the Sumpter Valley Railroad yard.  I think this was about as much fun as we had on the trip and it was just a great eastside morning – a bit nippy and windy with clear blue sky and clouds on the peaks.  The first of these shots is looking west and the second looking east.  When I first put together the east looking shot I was reminded of a saying by Yogi Berra “When you come to a fork in the road, take it!”

Easily amused!!

Just a couple more from the trip to the Eastside.  I do not know the name of this plant but given that it is growing on what is essentially a rock pile and that it is beautiful in its simplicity I spent some time on my hands and knees getting this shot.  I think it was time well spent.

The first evening in Sumpter John and I spent about an hour in an old mining equipment bone-yard and just got fascinated with this rusted series of bolts that at one time anchored a screen or a sorting rack of some sort.  Having a rather simple mind and thus being easily amused it was fun to concentrate on the bolts and eventually make a little poster displaying their frozen in time beauty.

Autumn Color

I spent most of the last three days on the road.  I left Eugene on Sunday in beautiful weather and headed east toward the small Blue Mountain town of Sumpter.  I had been planning this trip for some time, looking forward to seeing country that was relatively new to me and to be able to photograph the autumn colors in what I understood from reading is some of the best color to be had in the State.   What a fun drive and when I got there John Dobbins – an old high school and early Forest Service days friend – and his little buddy Snoopy were already at the motel.  Sure was fun to see him again and to catch up after a long time with little more than email and the odd phone call.  It took me about 6 hours to drive over to Sumpter and it sure felt good to get out of the car.  We chatted while I unloaded and loaded photo gear and then headed out for an evening walk down by the historic Sumpter Dredge – a huge gold mining dredge that has been kept in decent condition by a local group.  I took some images of the dredge but it is so well known that it almost seemed to be not worth my time.  However we did go inside and the interior workings are amazing.  I cannot image the cacophony of noise that must have come from that ‘critter’ when in operation.   Instead of expending a lot of pixels on the dredge we focused (pun intended) on an adjacent boneyard full of old parts and machinery.  I have a set of images yet to process from this outing and it was such fun to find the whimsy in these items.  It was one of those magical hours that you just lose yourself in the activity of capturing images – hardly a word said but lot’s of little murmurs of delight.  I will put up the images from this shooting later this week.

Following a dinner that I think is still with me we headed for our rooms with no firm plan for the next day.  Morning coffee and blueberry pancakes launched us on a morning shoot at the Sumpter train depot.

If you look at those clouds across the top of the far peaks you can see that they are really getting blown apart and were forewarning of the coming storm.  The train depot is full of very interesting items and again John and I got lost in what we were doing and just thoroughly enjoyed our time.  We headed back to Sumpter and loaded both cars – John to head home – and me to drive with him on part of the Elkhorn Scenic Byway.  Part way along we came upon a big stream that was just being touched by the sun and was, in some places still frozen.  Beautiful but a bit nippy for two photographers one of which got wet going out to the middle of the stream – hummmm! – some day I will learn.  This is an HDR image taken with the camera positioned very low to the stream and using a wide angle lens.  I then got engrossed in the details and just loved the ice formed around the bed material.

John and I dropped down into the Baker Valley and stopped for lunch at Haines before he heading on home and me back up the hill to Sumpter.  Both of us were blown away by the valley and it seemed to us that people coming into that valley for the first time on the Oregon Trail must have thought they had arrived in paradise.

I left Tuesday morning headed back to Eugene with the news of a major storm hitting the Cascades.  Wow was that true – freezing rain, ice and snow.  Just out of Prineville there was an ice encrusted power line down across the road and traffic was routed around it – I found myself in Bend.  Good thing because the ice storm had ruined my windshield wipers and I needed new ones.  I will leave you with just a couple images of fall leaf color that I took up on Santiam Pass.  I must say that the color around Sumpter was patchy at best but the McKenzie River corridor right now is glorious.  The yellows and reds in the leaves are amazing and the drive is more that worth it – an easy day drive out of Eugene.

I have a ton of images left to process and I will post a few over the next few days – be warned – some are a bit arty but I love them.  As always I welcome your comments and feedback.

On some autumn day…

It has been an absolutely gorgeous autumn day down here in the upper Willamette Valley.  While running errands this morning I noticed that some of the trees were even starting to take on their autumn colors – just a hint of yellow and red.  With sunshine and blue sky it was time to head for the countryside.  There are a number of farm stands out on River Road just north of town and they are overflowing with flowers and vegetables and of course pumpkins.  The owners were very gracious in allowing me to shoot among their displays  and of course I brought home apples and corn-on-the-cob for dinner.

East and West

I started out shooting last evening at a set of small ponds about a mile from home but noticed the almost full moon off to the east.  With rain in the forecast but an absolutely clear, calm evening – not to mention a near full moon – I headed out west of town.  It has been a great week for photography out in the wetlands and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time out there.  Last evening was no exception.  I got there just after official sunset and the following is the first shot I got last night.

As darkness came on I turned toward the east and there was the near full moon over the remains of the wetlands.  They are pretty low right now and it will be interesting to see how they develop as autumn and eventually winter temps and storms change the views.

The following is the last image I shot – just as I was heading out.  It was getting very dark and this is a long exposure.  I noticed when I processed the image that the star in the upper right hand corner of the image actually moved over the time I had the shutter open.  Sort of whets my appetite for doing a star-track.

You are all probably getting very tired of images of the wetlands but if not and you want to see the real thing with me some evening I would love the company.  With just the beginning of fall color in the Cascades and the Valley I am looking forward to time spent in the mountains over the next few weeks.

Frump!!

As some of you know – and thanks for listening – I have been in sort of a photographic ‘frump’ the last couple of weeks.  I defined a ‘frump’ as a combination of frustration at my lack of abilities and slump as the result of that frustration.  At one point I almost sent all my current images to the digital dustbin but held off for a bit and decided that the best course of action would be to try and shoot my way out of this.  So I have been on the prowl for some decent and perhaps unique images over the last couple of weeks.  I started last week in downtown Eugene where this wonderful, colorful wall is hiding a big hole.   This image brought up my spirits just looking at the colors and reading the graffiti.

Last night after a morning spent helping a dear friend move her office I headed out to the Fern Ridge Wildlife refuge.  It really did not look like much of a sunset would develop but wandering around out there always does me a world of good.  Connects me with things I love and think are important.  The first image below was taken about official sunset and it was just a soft gentle evening.  No wind and champagne colors.

I was about to head home but decided to just hang out a bit and watch the sunset – there was an almost full moon as well but it was very high in the sky and did not come across well in the images I shot.  The sunset just got deeper and more colorful and the following image was taken about 25 minutes after official sunset.  I beat feet home in time to catch the beginning of the National Park series on PBS – what a treat.   I think the ‘frump’ has left for now but I have to say that it can be a very productive time used well.