A Beach evening

After a very long time with no face to face contact with my sister and brother in law we finally met up at Cannon Beach on Monday. What a nice treat – long overdue. We have all been careful over the last year to stick with the Covid guidelines. Seems like those are finally relaxing and we took advantage of that condition to connect.

As I was driving over yesterday I listened to a Podcast featuring Brooks Jensen the publisher of LensWork magazine and a force in photography that I really admire.  He was talking about breaking out of one’s normal shooting patterns and especially avoiding what he called “Epic Images”.  He was a bit derogatory about those kinds of images however I think he was more indicating the kind of images that are taken by a line of photographers at some iconic vista that has been shot many many times.  So much so that the tripod holes are visible from past efforts.

After a day roaming the shops in town and a nice catch-up chat and a quick dinner I headed out to Arcadia Beach just south of town.  The first two images below are meant to be more intimate – the evening light across the small tide pools I found along the beach.

I watched the sun descend into the ocean and waited for a full on “Epic Image” almost to the last moment and I am happy with how this turned out. Made my way back up the beach and hill to the car thinking I had found some worthwhile images. Your comments are more than welcome.

Roman Nose Mountain

My friend Chris invited me along on an outing to Roman Nose mountain in the Oregon Coast Range. It was so much fun exploring a new-to-me area and piqued me for future visits. We found a small lake near the top and the reflections from the riparian vegetation were very interesting. Dropping down a mile or two from the top there was a clear overview looking east with the Cascades in the distance. Twas a really nice morning.

Reflection – Roman Nose lake

Roman Nose Overlook – looking east.

Comments are always welcome

Sunrise

I had my second Covid 19 shot yesterday afternoon and I fully expected to have a really rough day following it but save for a sore shoulder at the injection site I feel fine but very tired from a very restless night. Despite that I went out the a field by the Regional hospital to see if I could capture a sunrise. Have to admit that I had that old Cat Stevens song “Morning has Broken” running thru my head the whole time I was out there.

The image below was taken on my way back to the car. Always a good idea to look behind you as you are walking away. Love the color and the ground fog.

Comments are always welcome.  

 

A Spring Visit

Sweet Creek in the Oregon Coast Range is one of my favorite photography locations and going this time of year especially mid-week, there are almost no visitors. Except for an old retired Forest Service hydrologist that was the case this morning.

I went early knowing that it would still be rather dark under the old growth along the stream. I found a new-to-me road that crossed the stream further down than where I normally start to photograph and found the stream wrapped in fog. What a treat – a new view painted with nature’s brush.

I made my way to the upper parking lot, loaded up the camera gear and headed toward the stream and Sweet Creek Falls. I had listened to a Podcast featuring Charlotte Gibb on my way over and she talked about finding Intimate landscapes. I found the image below one on my way along the stream below the falls. I think it fits the definition as she described it.

I then went to Sweet Creek Falls with the idea of finding a different way to photograph it. The last image was taken with my Canon R5, 35-70mm wide angle lens at f2.8, ISO 100 and a 10 stop Neutral Density filter resulting in a 30 second exposure.

Spring blooms

Every year it seems that I am drawn to photograph the Spring blooms that fill the town. Did not have to go far to find and photograph these – my front yard. Simple composition, stacked image.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. 

 

Two Mornings

Left Burns early hoping to find a sunrise.  It is great to be able to drive long distances in the open country and barely encounter another vehicle.  Such was this morning ~ 50 miles without meeting another car. 

Second day morning (the Blue Hour) – overlooking the Malheur NWR shot from the Buena Vista Overlook – 24 degrees and windy. 

 

Third day morning – shot along Highway 20 east of Bend – 12 degrees.

Chilly mornings but great light. 

I just got a new down coat with a hood and it was really nice to have on this trip and these mornings sure did give it a good test.

Love to have your comments.   Click on an image for a larger view. 

 

 

 

 

Lunch time

I got back this afternoon from a few of days photographing and saying Bon Voyage to friend John at Andrews in Southeastern Oregon and just wanted to share this image from my trip. I have a few more to share but I did like this one. It is the view I had having lunch one day – lucky me.  This is a panorama of the Pueblo Mountains just outside of Fields covered with fresh end-of-Winter snow.  It really needs to be viewed full screen so just click on it and I do welcome your comments.

Splitting the Frame

When I first started shooting more seriously and attempting to absorb as much information as I could I remember watching a video on photographic do’s and do not’s and they stated that one should never split the frame horizontally. Well as usual I am a poor student so here is an example of how I split the frame.

 

 

Intimate Landscapes

I picked up a copy of Intimate Landscapes: The Photographs of Eliot Porter the other day at Smith Family bookstore – only cost me $15 – such a deal. His images are inspirational – at least for me. The images in the book were all taken in the 50’s and 60’s and are in my opinion remarkable. His eye for composition lead me to start thinking about what I was seeing on the land beyond the big Grand Landscapes and waterfalls which I love to shoot.

I turned off the main Salmon Creek road and found a young stand of alder backlit by the morning sunlight. I love the color, texture, light and geometry in this image.

As always your comments are more than welcome.

 

Salmon Creek

My thanks go out to fellow photographer April Norman for the tip and directions to Salmon Creek falls near the town of Oakridge. I went up this morning and found a beautiful stream in spring flow. I know it will change as its watershed drys and images taken at that time will certainly look different and beautiful in their own right.

I parked at the gate leading into the campground and walked down toward the stream. Trails everywhere – an indication of a well used facility when open. There are two small waterfalls plunging into the main stem just across from the main campground. The first image below focused more on the detail.

Scrambling up a rock bank I walked further upstream until I was just above the two small waterfalls.  This is a lovely stream and I know I will be back for another go at  getting interesting images. 

As always you comments are more than welcome.