Smoke and Sparks

Spent the last couple of days in the Bend/Sunriver area with my niece and her lovely family – catching up on what is happening in the family, hiking to a great waterfall, drinking beer and eating Fish Taco’s in the Bend Brewery and then for me an evening at Ray Atkeson Point overlooking Sparks Lake.  We had made a quick stop early in the day and I was delighted to see the little islands that are normally just green but lovely, decorated to the max with yellow flowers.  I have shot at this location numerous times and this is the first time I have seen those islands in bloom.  What a treat and I was very excited about coming back to shoot the sunset.

The whole area around Bend and Sunriver is thick with smoke from the nearby Whitewater fire and while I hoped that the smoke might provide evening color such was not the case.  There was one cloud hanging over the lake surface that offered some interest but the color never developed and 10 minutes after this shot was taken the whole area turned a thick, dull gray/brown.   The bands of yellow flowers made all the difference.

Being an eternal optimist I just ‘knew’ that the morning was going to be spectacular.  On site and hopeful at 0530 but ARGGGGH more smoke and very little definition in the sky.  Still the bands of flowers really helped.

Click on an image to get a larger screen view – they are better larger.  As always comments are more than welcome.

Morning Moon

Been a bit since I posted a new image and just wanted to share the one below with y’all.  (Sorry if some of you have already seen it on FB)  It was taken last Sunday morning at Fern Ridge reservoir west of Eugene.   We had a full moon in what seemed to me to be just the right position and I also happened to stumble into a position that worked as well.  We are in the Photographic Summer doldrums with day after day of blue sky so getting up early to capture the moon set was the strategy I employed. Perhaps the Oregon would be a more productive strategy,

The image was taken using a 6 stop Neutral Density filter mounted on my Canon 24-70 lens set at f 22.  I used the 6ND filter to take the chop off the water and get a nice smooth surface.  The image below has a simple mat design that I would use if I decide to ever print and frame it.   (You can get a larger view by clicking on the image.

Sweet Wednesday

With rain in the forecast for the next few days I talked Dave in to going with me for a morning shoot on Sweet Creek which is just 10 miles southeast of Mapleton, OR.  It is one of my favorite places to shoot in the Oregon Coast Range and is a short drive from Eugene.  I have photographed this stream in the winter, autumn and spring and they all have their charms.  Autumn is so colorful with painted  big maple leaves scattered along the stream edges.  Spring is a season of lush green and winter means high flows and stark vegetation. Today was lush.

Foot access is easy with a well maintained trail and some offshoots that lead down to the stream banks which in many places are bedrock and can be quite slick as we both found out, taking a tumble.  The flow today was about the best I have experienced in years of shooting these waterfalls.  Dave and I  stopped by last winter but the flow was extreme and was very difficult to photograph.

Leaving the parking lot you walk upstream and are met with a series of falls, pools and cascades all of which make for interesting shots.  The one below is the first one you come to and the succeeding ones were taken as we made our way upstream. (These images were all taken with a Canon 5D4 fitted with a 16-35mm wide angle lens equipped with a circular polarizer filter in order to cut the glare on the water.)

Just a short walk uphill and around a couple of curves you come to a streambank access trail that leads down to the channel bedrock.  Just doing that little bit of off trail walking allows for framing interesting shots.  IMHO

Up the trail we went to another small gnarly access trail and while you would think some embryo of discretion or simple common sense would have served us well but NO! – down the hill we went to again frame up what we hoped would be interesting shots.  The bedrock was steep, wet and slick in spots and we both took a spill.  I landed on my well padded butt which I am sure will be quite colorful tomorrow morning.  Dave went down also and I think damaged some camera gear, adding to the pain.

The image below is another in this series and is as far up the stream as we went.  There is a waterfall at the top that I do not find very interesting so with rising sunlight in a blue sky we headed downhill.

If you are looking for a beautiful and relatively easy walk I sure do recommend Sweet Creek and if you are in the mood it is an additional easy drive to Florence and the Coast.

As usual if you click on an image you can get a larger view.  I am grateful for any comment you wish to pass along.

 

Quiet Awareness

(If you are getting this on FB please swing over to my WordPress blog – link below – and click on the images to get a better view)

I hope all of you who are Mothers had a wonderful, connective and supportive day yesterday.  My own Mother passed over a few years back and as many of you mentioned in FB posts you miss and honor your Mother every day – me too, and I know my twin sister feels the same way and I am sure she was celebrated by her children and grand children.

“Whether in solitude, or in the company of like-minded friends, I owe some of my most fond and profound memories to these places and to my quiet adventures in them.”  Guy Tal

I got a wee tap on the noggin (thanks Mom) yesterday morning telling me that if I headed out into the mountains she may have left some treats for me and my camera.  All I needed to do was to be quiet and aware.  I headed up Willamette Pass and sure enough I came across this small stream tumbling down a cut bank – another one of those times when just noticing is not enough and turning around is required.   So much rain this year makes for images that are full of interest and in places I had never noticed before.

As I drove up Highway 58 fresh snow blanked the forest and meadows along the way.  I went over the top of Willamette Pass and stopped at Princess Creek CG which was closed. I hiked down thru the snow to the edge of Odell Lake.  The shot below is of Mt. Yoran and was taken with a 10 stop ND filter.

Past the Crescent Lake general store I turned off the LaPine cutoff and drove north on the Cascade Lakes Highway which I already knew was closed below Bachelor Ski area so I turned off and made my way toward Highway 97 and then into Bend. Along the way I crossed a major stream that runs between Crane Prairie and Wickiup Reservoirs and stopped to just explore not really expecting much but to my delight I found this natural abstract.  Seems like the log and its branches have formed a natural sieve and the water is very graceful, IMHO.

Looping back thru Bend and into Sisters for a quick visit with my friend Leslie and of course to pick up some Black Butte Gold coffee I snaked my way thru traffic to a planned stop at Olallie Creek CG only to be a bit disappointed with the condition of the dogwood blooms.  Still not full out and formed and probably will not be for a couple more weeks. There were a few areas and I did manage to get a of shot that I like – lights in the Forest.

I do love to have company when I am on the road shooting but there are some days when I want and need to be alone – almost a time of meditation – such was yesterday.  Hope I can connect with some others in the near future for a trip back to the woods and beyond.

As always comments are welcome and if you click on an image you can get a larger view.

Mid-morning buildup

The local weather folks are predicting possible thunderstorms for late this afternoon so depending on how that all develops I may head back out to the West Eugene wetlands this evening.  The blooms are abundant and the fields are full of color so I think having them set against a dramatic sky such as can develop after thunderstorms could be great.

However I went out there this morning mostly on a scouting trip mostly to check on the blooms.  The humidity was extreme and the buildup over the coast range was already in progress so it appears that we may be in store for some storms.  Could be fun.

Not really expecting much I was delighted to find the following image.  I have shot this little tree before but with huge white clouds in the distance and smooth water in the foreground that allowed for a nice reflection it just was too good to pass up.

I hope you all have a nice STARWARS DAY — May the 4th be with you!!

 

 

Finally Out…

I know it has been some time since I added a post to my blog and it has been even longer – 3 years – since I connected with my friend Paula Goodbar, executive director of the Emerald Art Center, for a day in the field behind the lens.

As many of you know we have had a cold, damp and dreary winter and such was the case again as we headed up Santiam Pass yesterday morning.  There was a Winter Storm advisory posted for the west side of the Cascades from Blue River to the summit but we intrepid photographers carried on.  Oh my! can’t believe I wrote that!! :~)   The roads got a bit icy and snowy just above the map dot of Mckenzie Bridge but the plows were doing a great job and travel was easy.  As we drove along we came to a section of road that parallels Lost Lake on one side and the remains of the B&B Complex fire on the other.  The fire blackened boles were adorned with fresh snow and made for simple compositions that – as Paula said – look like sketches.  We turned around and then around again to get safely off the road and got out in the snow to shoot.  I love these kinds of compositions.  As usual if you click on the image you can get a larger view on your screen.

We moved on and jockeyed around the snowplows until the road cleared on the east side of the summit.  We had planned to meet up with my friend Leslie, who lives in Sisters, at the turnoff for Camp Sherman.  We waited about a minute and there she was.  We headed out hoping to find interesting shots along the main river below Camp Sherman.  Despite being a spring creek the river was high and a lot of the detail in the flow was washed out but with some careful camera work I think I was able to capture some of patterns that formed in the higher flow.  The shot below was taken at Wizard Falls I used a 4-stop ND filter and a f-stop of 22.   It was still a bit overcast and cold but so nice to see a bit of blue.

After photographing the main river for a while I concentrated on some of the detail that was found along the banks and came across a fresh growing clump of False Hellebore lit by morning light with reflected colors of the trees on the bank across the river.

 

On we went to Sisters.  Sisters Coffee Company, for a bag of Black Butte Gold, is a required stop when in the neighborhood!  We headed out to a view of the 3 Sisters on a mountain south of town – temps in the low 30’s and a 30+ mph wind howling across the ridge.  Brutal shooting – interesting though how when you are actually composing images you forget about the cold – that is until your hands no long work and you run for the car and gloves.  Images from this part of the shoot are not worked up yet.  Stay tuned!

We headed to town and met up with Leslie for lunch at a wonderful gallery/restaurant called The Open Door.  Delicious food and wine and some very nice art.  What a great day with great friends.

(Comments are always welcome and prints of the images are for sale)

Recovery

The photographic show, Emerging Artists, at Emerald Art Center on Friday evening was really fun and well attended. I think I talked more in that one evening than I do total in a month.  While fun it was tiring both physically – on my feet for 3 hours – and being ‘on’ is always an energy drain for us introverts.  I know that many people charge their batteries being active in groups like that but not me.  It is an energy drain and while I love doing it and being out there I recognize that in order to recover and recharge I need some time alone and in nature.  Such was the case last night.  The rain quit for a few days and while a spectacular sunset was not in the offing there did develop a soft almost pastel gentle evening.  I had the place to myself save for some rather large and noisy skeins of geese.

I watched this image develop over about 30 minutes until the sun sank into the far cloud bank – time to pack up and head for home – batteries recharged.

22 and Sunny

It has been overcast and foggy here in the Willamette Valley for the last couple of days so I decided to go up and see if I could find some sun.  An friend of mine, Leigh, once told me “When in doubt go higher” and I have kept that advice close over the years.  Wise woman.

I went higher – up the Old Mckenzie Highway – and found a near pristine field with almost unmarked snow about 2 feet deep.  I knew there was a waterfall in the area that I wanted to shoot so I strapped on my snowshoes and headed out.  Graceful is not a term I would apply to my gate in snowshoes but certainly better than plunge stepping down a hill to the waterfall.  I have shot this waterfall before but with higher flows so the frozen landscape dropped the flow and I think added some interest.  (Just seemed better in Black and White.  Click for a larger view)  The image is called Cross Currents – obvious reasons.

I stumbled my way back up the hill to the field I first spotted and the following image presented itself.  Shady and 22 degrees – the sun did not add any warmth but did add some interest to the shot. What a great day to be out in the mountains.

An aside:  I did manage to get stuck in the snow/ice turning around on a forest road and had to dig myself out since I have been abandoned by my past faithful diggers.  I think I need to be more careful in the future.  Hee Hee

Cold Fall Creek Morning

“pictures can be a lot like poetry, allowing me to express myself without having to be declarative about it. So essentially my photographs are attempts to communicate, and nature provides me with a beautiful vocabulary of sorts.”    

Erin Babnik

I love that quote.  Found it in an interview with Erin Babnik, a Photo Cascadia member, whose work I find very creative and inspirational.  http://www.erinbabnik.com/  I often struggle to find the right words that convey what I felt when I took the images I share with y’all on this blog.  I think for the most part I am only marginally successful but with practice I hope to improve.

Dave Hill and I headed up nearby Fall Creek this morning – beautiful and close to home.  The road runs adjacent to the stream and crosses it in a few places.  Alas no snow but there was frost and in some places icy bridge crossings.  I guess the almost-for-sure snow forecast was a bit off.  It is still supposed to get very cold on Tuesday night so perhaps if there is some moisture snow will materialize.

To me there is a mix of the gentle and harsh in the winter landscape.  The bare trees adjacent to winter flow in the streams make for what some would consider a stark view but I see rest and recovery for some,  passing for others and the overall promise of spring growth held tight in the closed buds.  This first image is of Fall Creek taken from the bridge at Bedrock Canyon CG.

Walking back to the car on one of the stops I came across a small runoff pond in which the surrounding vegetation was reflected in the still water and a single cottonwood leaf was entrained in the icy surface. Made what I have come to call a natural abstract and the cold solitary nature of the leaf spoke to my mood.  {Probably was not real good company for Dave} This image is certainly one  of my favorite images from the outings this year.

Be sure to click on the images for a larger view and your comments are more than welcome.

My Thanks…

As we approach the holiday season I just wanted to send out a Thank You to all of you who take the time to view and read this blog – much appreciated.  I especially want to thank Kirsten at Art Counselor, INC. and Kristina, Eric and Kendra at Framin Art Works for all the counsel and help in presenting my images in such a professional way.  They make me look good and I need a lot of help. Finally I want to thank Dave Hill for all the thoughtful comments made on this blog and in FB.  I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and a wonderful Christmas.  I am so grateful for the beautiful world I am lucky to capture with my camera and I hope to go on a bit longer.

Hawking the weather over the last few days I noticed that a clearing window was predicted for last evening and I headed for one of my favorite spots close to town – the Eugene Wetlands.   When I got there – about 20 minutes before official sunset I was greeted with the image below.  I think the Magic Hour really does come around sometimes and I was fortunate enough to be there to shoot it.  After about 1/2 hour there was a slight break in the clouds near the distant mountains and the sun broke thru and lit up a bright lens of light on the glass smooth surface of the lake.  Not long after it was dark and I wandered back to the car and home — a happy camper.

I have been shooting with my new camera — A Canon 5D4 — and I simply love it.  I think the image quality is great.  As usual please click on the images for a larger view and comments are always welcome.