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

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.

Fog at Hult Lake

The Joy is in the Seeking and the Reward is to be here.

That was certainly the case this morning at a fog filled Hult Lake in the Oregon Coast Range.  Fog can add so much to images and I think aided these two. The first is of a stand of mature alder along the lake shore.  A very simple composition.

As you travel up the lake you come to a small tributary.  The soft light from the fog hanging in the trees and a few remaining leaves plus a really long exposure helped to make this image

Access to this area is really quite easy and if you go in late autumn or even winter there are very few people to contend with.  Such is not the case in the summer or early autumn then things tend to fill up.

Enjoy 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

 

Astoria abstract

“If all you see is what there is to be seen,

then you are not seeing all there is to see”

Sometimes just moving the camera a bit while the shutter is open can produce interesting images seen in different ways.  This one was taken during a friends gathering in Astoria last September and I had not worked it up until I was browsing images by Michael Kenna (http://www.michaelkenna.net/index2.php)  the other night.  While I am not saying this one comes anywhere near the quality of his work it did get me thinking about these images still residing on my hard drive and was a nudge to go over and see if any worked.  I think this one does.  Comments always welcome.  Click for a larger view.

Splitting the Dark

From a short wander on the docks in Florence, OR

Comments are always welcome.

Intimate dunes

Spent the morning hours on the South Jetty just south of the town of Florence, OR. There are some beautiful dunes that you have to hike up some steep sand trails to get to but it is worth it IMHO.

There was enough sun to highlight the contrast both in color and B&W. These are what I would term Intimate Landscapes – no sky and an emphasis on detail.  I welcome your comments and thanks for looking.   Click for a larger screen view.

A Lovely Summer Evening

Spent part of last evening at Shorelane Park on the edge of Fern Ridge reservoir. I have shot here many times in the past and while not always successful in coming back with reasonably good images I think last night I managed to capture a couple that will give you an idea of how lovely it was. There were clouds scudding across the hills being blown apart a bit by strong winds but creating interesting formations. The setting sun always seems to add interest and drama.

As the sun set the color in the remaining clouds seemed to come up and be reflected in the choppy water.  It was a really nice evening and I hope these images convey some of that to you.  Comments are more than welcome and thanks for looking

Bandon Beach

As I mentioned in a post yesterday I noticed a dark cloud mass coming in while shooting at Cape Arago.  I drove down to Bandon and had a very nice connective visit with friends Steve and Susan Dimock – both amazingly gifted photographers – and stayed at their lovely little boutique motel — La Kris Inn.  Always a pleasure to see them and get caught up.  I asked if either wanted to go out to the beach for an evening shoot and Susan said she mite be interested.  As the evening went on the heavy moisture laden sky thickened and while Susan made the right choice not to go out I wandered down to the beach and shot for about 1.5 hours.  Nothing much.  No amazing sunset.  The image below gives you an idea of what I found and it did not get better as the evening went on.

Went back early the next morning and found a clearing sky and some morning light coming on.  The second image of the two below contains Face Rock – hope you can see it – may have to click on the image for a larger view.

It was fun trip and perhaps the next one with be east bound.