I'm finally getting around to processing some of the shots from my recent Oregon trip. The ones you see below are from our last day, which was spent mostly on the road eating Voodoo doughnuts and enjoying the countryside. The drive back was quite astonishing. We began by taking the historic Columbia River Highway, which winds its way along several dozen waterfalls on its way parallel to the Columbia River. I must say, before this time I was generally…skeptical…of waterfalls. What I mean by this is that there are not many waterfall shots that I truly enjoy. As such, I didn't think that I would really enjoy actually shooting them. I was completely wrong. What a blast! Something about freezing the never-ending torrent in time is just satisfying. I won't say that I did a very good job (this guy, on the other hand, is a waterfall genius), but I did really dug standing in the mist and working with the camera.
After overcast and falls and getting wet came the trip through the more arid parts of Oregon and Washington. This local offers its own own charm, but this particular time though was mind-blowing. We sidled up next to the Hood around sunset and had 2 hours of simply astonishing light. Light was kissing the hills and valleys around us every which way, and the sky was just…I don't think I've seen anything like it, to be honest. The clouds were like someone had taken a giant sheet and draped it across the sky creating hundreds of folds that caught every ray of light differently. And the sun was this blood-orange color that made everything seem on fire. My only spot of sadness about this entire trip was that I didn't ask to pull over the car and get some proper shots. I do now know, however, that I will be going back as soon as the weather permits.
Here are some shots.
Latourelle Falls (Wide) — Map
The first of 3 falls we happend upon not 2 miles from each other.
Latourelle Falls (Close) — Map
This is closer than it looks. Also, impossible to keep spray off the lens.
Wahkeena Falls — Map
I loved how Wahkeena meanders down from the distance. It's not as impressive as some of the higher falls, but it has a great quality nonetheless.
Multnomah Falls from the Base — Map
Classic Oregon. I was at the base with a woman who, like me, was struggling to keep water off the lens. We looked like a couple of hunchbacks, with our jackets half off, covering the front of our cameras until the instant the shutter tripped.
Multnomah Falls from the Bridge — Map
I took a 4 shot vertical pano looking up to the falls, but the comp was pretty boring. I ended up stitching the bottom two shots into what you see here. My workflow was: frame, lock tripod, remove camera, turn back to falls, wipe off lens for 30 seconds or more, place lens cap on, put camera back on tripod, engage 10 sec MLU, wait until 1 second remains before the shutter trips, remove lens cap, and pray no spray hits the lens in that timeframe. Unfortunately, almost immediately my lens would get soaked, so there are still a good amount of waterspots about.
Friends — Map
I met these guys on top of the falls. They had me take a shot with their manual focus Minolta, but I fear my lack of glasses caused me to miss focus. Hopefully the shot turned out! I always dig it when people engage with me when I take photos.
Rainbow over the Hood — Map
Coming home, we saw some astonishingly beautiful scenery. I'd been through the hood river / yakima valley area before, but oh my god, it wasn't nearly this stunning. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to get out and take some real shots, so I had to make due with what I could out of the window at 60 MPH.
Rainbow and Clearing Storm — Map
For some reason this reminds me of the CO river.
Awash — Map
I love simple landscapes.
Shadows — Map
The entire face of valley was lit by the sun. This is one of the small hills that made a more interesting pattern.
Golden Hillside — Map
Just entering WA, I saw this.
Yakima Moonrise — Map
The sky was on fire the whole time we were driving through. This is the last vestiges of the day, taken while we filled up at some gas station near Yakima.
