House Rock CG

The initial destination for my outing up the South Santiam River yesterday was House Rock CG. (Thanks Chris for the tip) After leaving the highway you drop a bit on a gravel road but have to park at the gate and walk down, down, down to the campground and the river. There was small trail running downriver and that is where I got the best images.

At first I thought the image below must have something to do with Alice and the Rabbit Hole

however once you walk thru the gap there is a bridge across the river that provides a lovely view looking upstream.  Love that big alder anchoring that mid-channel bar.

After some time on the bridge I went down along the river – I love the leaf scatter that comes this time of year and that is trapped at low flow along the edges of the channel.  Just says autumn to me.

Then came the hard part – the hike back up the hill.  It sufficed for my morning workout.  As usual you can click on an image to get a larger screen view and your comments are more than welcome.

 

Exploring the South Santiam

I got a lead from my friend Chris telling me about the photographic opportunities up the South Santiam River. I certainly know about the South Santiam after working as a hydrologist on the Willamette N.F. for years but I had never photographed up there so this was a bit of an exploration and certainly a treat. Additionally, as I said last year this is about the time my mother passed a few years back and I try to go out and see what gifts she has for me.

I started the morning at Cascadia – it is park on the right bank of the river with a bridge crossing that makes for a nice composition. We had fog this morning in the Valley and it carried up thru the river valley. As I worked up this image I came to realize how much I liked it in Black and White.

I moved upriver toward House Rock CG and have a number of images from that area that I think turned out.  Will post some more as I finalize them.  Thanks for looking and reading and thanks to Mom for the image.  Click for a larger view and your comments are more than welcome.

 

 

Autumn morning

“It has a beauty all its own” Ray Atkeson

I left early this morning with a plan to shoot the morning light at Sparks Lake as it was my understanding that there was to be some broken clouds and fresh snow. Such was not the case. However as I waited out the changing light for a couple of hours I finally took note of the quote above on the monument sign at the overlook. Ray Atkeson was the Photographer Laureate of Oregon and produced some of the most iconic images of the Oregon Cascades that anyone has ever done.

I hoped the clouds would clear and give me a look at the South Sister in total but they got thicker and the light got flatter as the morning went on. So even though there was not a full on view of the mountain I think this is still a beautiful area on its own and it was a pleasure to spend a few hours just watching the scene unfold.

After a few more hours of looking and shooting I started back down the Cascade Lakes highway looking for autumn color. I got lucky and noticed a wonderful stand of yellow aspen at a closed campground named The Point. Walked down the hill and shot across the lake. I feel like there was some success after a long drive.

Perhaps next week I will go up the McKenzie River to Scott Lake and see if there are some autumn treats to be had up there.

Your comments are more that welcome and thanks for looking.

 

 

Foggy morning – Hult Lake

Once again fog filled the Valley and followed the hills of the Coast Range this morning. I decided to visit one of my favorite local spots to see if fall color was coming strong and to take advantage of how fog can enhance a scene. It was very dark when I arrived but after 30 minutes the light started to come on and I started shooting.

This first image has what I think of as an oriental orientation. Maybe that is me.

Wandering about on foot and in the car I came across a bit of a backwater pond with alder reflected in the still water.

Given the time of year it is I was thinking that autumn colored leaves would be scattered all over. There was some but I think viewing the patterns without the color makes for an interesting image.

As always your comments are more than welcome

 

Catching evening light

The tree of life is growing where the spirit never dies, and the bright light of salvation shines in dark and empty skies. Bob Dylan

Catching evening light amid the end of summer dust in Frenchglen, Oregon

Heart

Piercing the heart of things early this morning in the fog which blanketed the City

Evening Light

I had Black and White conversion in mind when I made this image but it took me a while to find the right settings for it to work. Hope I am not loading you up with too many shots, however I think this may be my favorite from the recent High Desert outing.

 

Warner/Hart morning

I started the second day of my recent High Desert outing in a tire shop in Lakeview. The tire nanny on the car was lit up when I headed out and rather than take a chance on developing a tire issue in the backcountry I elected to stay in Lakeview for an extra hour to get it checked.  Nothing to worry about just low air pressure from the colder temps and high elevation.

I headed east on Hwy 140 toward the mapdot of Adel and in the process crossed the Warner Mountains. It was 30 degrees at the summit and as I dropped down the other side I started to see patches of lovely yellow aspens set against the gray of the desert hillside. The image below is a small panorama – ~42 inches wide. The morning sun was just lighting up the stand.

As I drove down the valley smoke and haze from the current California wildfires started to fill the scene. Turning north from Adel I started up a route recommended to me by Laurel Banke toward another mapdot, Plush, near the southern end of the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge.  I was really surprised to find two rather large lakes along the way. The haze was clouding the mountains but I think made for an interesting image.

These two images define the morning efforts and I still have many more from the first day of my outing and the afternoon of this day which was spent on Steens Mountain.

I hope you can still click on an image for a larger view as WordPress installed a new editor and I am just learning my way thru it. As always I welcome your comments.

Some experimentation

I have been experimenting with simple compositions for a few days and came up with one that I really like.  Have not printed it yet but may do so soon.  Also it seems like it can form the basis for other compositions which I hope will come along in the next few days.  Love to have your comments.

Rain!!!

There was finally a major storm in our area Thursday night – thunder and lightening and intense rain showers. Showers yesterday but there was still rain this morning – what a treat.  With the color season beginning in a few days I thought that maybe the rain would brighten up the colors in the fallen leaves and help to usher in the season. Spent some time at a local park just wandering among the fallen leaves looking for a composition that said autumn color.  Hopefully many more images to come when I focus my camera on Steens Mountain in a week or so although those may be more of the grand landscape than the intimate version below.

I welcome your comments.  Click for a larger view.