[/caption] Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor offers so many hiking trails and small beach areas that its almost impossible to remember each area when going through your photos. This photo was taken at the beginning of the Scenic Corridor if you were driving from Gold Beach. There are dozens of areas to get some spectacular panoramic views of the coastline as well as the rocky islands surrounding the area. This photo really shows just how massive and broad the rocky coastline really is. You can see several rocks jutting out towards the Ocean as you look north with each cliff hiding its own inaccessible private beach. I took this photo at about 9:50am and was facing towards the north which was in the opposite direction of the sun. This photo really shows the sure beauty of the Southern Oregon coastline with its raw beauty. There were dozens of flowers that I had never seen before along the Oregon coast and there were two small waterfalls that you could hike to along the beach. I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch to avoid any camera shake or blur. I attached my CIR-PL and warming filter in order to enhance the quality of the setting. I had the camera in Program/Normal mode so the aperture was at F-7 and the shutter speed was at 1/160 second. I had the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -0.7 due to the brightness of the morning. I was using my Sigma 17/70mm lens and I had the focal length at 34mm in order to frame the rocks in the photo.
Monthly Archives: June 2011
Cape Sebastian, OR
[/caption] Cape Sebastian is a great place to seek some awesome sunset views or watch windsurfers and kite boarders brave the cold water along the Pistol river. The Southern Oregon coastline offers some of the best beach access along with several primitive beaches, rocky cliffs, great hikes and views of some of the hundreds of rocks that lie just off the beaches. This area is bar far the most beautiful coastline in the state of Oregon and you are sure to be blown away by the natural beauty. There are several rivers that feed in to the ocean and you can drive just a few miles inland to escape the salt air and trade it in for some serious white water rafting or take a mail boat ride. Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor stretches from the Pistol river all the way to Brookings and there are several miles of hiking trails that are absolutely stunning. You can hike to several private beaches or hike above the Pacific Ocean and look down to the rocky coast below. Some of the vantage points are a dizzying 500 feet or more above the water. There is no other way to explain how beautiful this area is without just believing me and planning a serious road trip to the Southern Oregon Coast. Bandon, Port Orford, Gold Beach or Brookings are some great little Ocean towns that offer something for everyone as well as a great base camp. This is my second photography trip to the Southern Oregon coast and this time I made sure to spend several days here so I could really take advantage of the area between Gold Beach and Brookings. We hiked the majority of the Samuel H. Boardman trails and ended up in Brookings. However, you need to be prepared for some high winds since the winds can really howl in these parts. I guess that’s why they have some of the best windsurfing on the planet. In fact, I wasn’t able to take any sunset photos while standing right on the beach. The sand was blowing so hard that it almost ruined my filters and soaked my camera and camera lens with salt spray. I spent several minutes cleaning my camera and then hiked just above the beach to take this photo. I still ended up with a wet camera as well as needing to constantly clean my lens in order to take a photo. This was probably the most frustrating part of my trip. For the sunset on the next day I made sure to find a spot that was nearly 600 feet above the water in order to avoid another sunset disaster. I was using my Canon T1i along with my Sigma 17-70mm lens. I attached my warming, CIR-PL as well as my ND8 filter in order to cut down on some of the glare. I also made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch to avoid any blur or camera shake. The sun was scheduled to set at 8:58pm and this shot was taken at 8:50. I set the focal length at 17mm in order to get the most panoramic view of the beach. However, I had to crop the corners due to the ND8 filter causing more vignetting than I expected. I set the ISO to 100 and the white balance to +0.3 since the sun was extremely bright. I was experimenting with the shutter speed but on this photo I had the camera mode in Program/Normal mode and the aperture was at F-2.8 and the shutter speed at 1/3 second. Since the wind was so strong I found myself cleaning the lens after every shot and whenever I set the shutter priority to over 2 seconds the salt spray would coat the lens.
Mt. Thielsen, OR
[/caption] Mt. Thielsen with its incredible snow pack during late June. It’s hard to imagine that you can’t take more than 5 steps while hiking any of the Mt. Thielsen trails without running in to snow. You are well advised to bring your snow shoes if you plan on hiking near the higher elevations of the mountain. Most of the campsites within the Diamond Lake area are still closed due to the high snow pack and the north entrance to Crater Lake National Park isn’t scheduled to open until later this week. I took this photo near the snow park just south of Hwy 230 and about 1/2 mile south of Diamond Lake. I was using my Canon T1i along with my Sigma 17-70mm lens. It was about 8:35am and the sun was in the upper right hand of the photo which was creating a pretty intense glare unless you took cover in some shade. I made sure to attach my CIR-PL and warming filter in order to tone down the glare in the sky and warm the mountain as well as the forest in the foreground. I set the ISO to 100 and reduced the white balance to -1.3. I had the camera mode in Program/Normal mode so the aperture was automatically set at F-8 and the shutter speed at 1/320 second. I wanted to get as much of the mountain in the photo with the trees in the foreground so I set the focal length at 70mm. I was still able to have a really good depth of field since there were no distracting subjects too close to the main subject.
Mt. Bailey, OR
[/caption] The snow in the Southern Oregon Cascades are nearly 600% above normal and you will be sure to find that most of the hiking trails are completely covered in snow. You would be advised to bring some snow shoes and plan on having an epic time snow shoeing at Crater Lake National Park, Mt. Bailey or Mt. Thielsen. I spent one day snow shoeing on the south side and the next day snow shoeing the north side of Crater Lake and found myself amazed at the amount of snow there was. I camped at Diamond Lake and took this photo of Mt. Bailey just as the sun had set behind it. I was amazed at the amount of osprey and bald eagle that was flying along the lake as well as just over my head. I witnessed an osprey catching its dinner as it plunged towards the lake. I was using my Canon Rebel T1i along with my Sigma 17-70mm lens. I was standing along the edge of the lake as thousands of hungry mosquito’s swirled around me. I took this shot at 8:58pm and the sun had just set to the right of the mountain when I noticed that some clouds were beginning to move over Mt. Bailey. I decided to set the camera mode to shutter priority in order to flatten out the water. I set the shutter speed at 4 seconds which put the aperture at F-18 since I had the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -1.3. I was using my tripod, bubble level and remote switch to ensure that there would be no camera shake or blurs. I also attached my CIR-PL and warming filter. I had the focal length at 38mm in order to keep Mt. Bailey as the main subject. You would be advised to watch out for avalanche dangers since I noticed that all of the mountains had been experiencing avalanches during the mid afternoon.
Silver Falls State Park, OR
[/caption] The waterfalls are spectacular at Silver Falls State Park, OR. I was surprised to get a photo of the south waterfall since it’s normally littered with hikers all along the trail between the falls. I ended up with a good window and decided to take as many photos as I could. I was lucky enough to choose a day to visit the park on a very overcast but fairly warm day. I was even surprised that I didnt’ see any other photographers the entire day. Normally you will see dozens of photographers on any late spring/early summer overcast day. The vegetation is absolutely blinding with its neon green colors which goes very well with the dark black basalt rock all along the waterfalls. I was using my Canon T1i along with my Sigma 17-70mm lens. This is pretty much my only lens that I use when photographing waterfalls since it takes unbelievable shots and I normally stand no more than a few yards from the base of the waterfalls or 100 yards when taking a panoramic shot. I made sure to attach my ND8, CIR-PL and warming filter as well as use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch. I had the camera mode in shutter priority and set the shutter at 4 seconds and the aperture was at F-16. I set the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -1.3 due to the glare from the sun which was just overhead. I had the focal length at 19mm and stood just above the falls in order to frame the vegetation around the waterfall as well as create the most dynamic panoramic photo as I could.
Multnomah Falls, OR
[/caption] The water is a thundering in the Columbia River Gorge and the waterfalls won’t disappoint. The wildflowers are out as well as all of the vegetation that had been mostly absent. If you have been putting off your hiking trip to the gorge now is the time to lace up those hiking shoes and pack your snacks because the gorge has awaken. If your ears are sensitive to the piercing sounds of huge waterfalls plunging towards earth I would also pack some earplugs. I took another one of my road trips while visiting as many waterfalls as I could in one day and this was the first day that everything was perfect since there are plenty of wildflowers, green neon vegetation, overcast skies and plenty of water. This photo is of Multnomah Falls and I decided to post it since I was amazed with the amount of water as well as the color. I normally don’t even stop here due to all of the traffic but I decided to stop this time since I knew that the falls would be spectacular. I took this shot on Monday 6/6/11 at about 11:50am. Because the sky was overcast I was able to keep the shutter open for 4 seconds without having any overexposure. I had the camera in Shutter Priority with the aperture at F-14. I set the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -0.3. I had to tilt my camera at about 75 degrees so I was concerned about sun glare since the sun was directly behind the falls. However, since I attached my ND8, CIR-PL and warming filter I was able to increase the shutter speed to 4 seconds. Unfortunately, there was one person standing on the bridge which kind of ruins the photo but at least they were wearing brown clothes so its less distracting. The waterfall was creating a pretty strong wind as you can see in the movement of the trees in the right and left corners of the photo. The water spray from Multnomah Falls causes a lot of water spray so I normally choose to stand as far back as I can. However, I was able to get somewhat close to the falls and open the lens to 17mm in order to photograph the entire waterfall as well as the splash below. I was using my Canon T1i along with my Sigma 17-70mm lens. I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch to avoid any camera shake or blur.
Mt. Hood National Forest, OR
[/caption] A great hike deep within the Mt. Hood National Forest that offers spectacular views of Ramona Falls, the Sandy river, Mt. Hood as well as Ramona creek and several granite cliffs is the Ramona Falls trail. The trail to the waterfall is a moderate 7 mile hike that offers a loop so you don’t have to double back. There are also some awesome views of the forest as you wind along the Sandy river. I took this shot last September near the end of our hike. It was about 5:35pm and I believe the sun set around 7:00pm. The sun was at about a 90 degree angle in the upper left and there was several sun spots shining through the clouds above. I waited for a few minutes to get just the right amount of sunlight creasing through the clouds as it shined below. I chose this photo since you can see the silhouette of the trees as well as the forest. The rolling foothills in the background offer a nice added feature. The clouds were moving pretty fast so I took as many photos as I could hoping to capture the sun piercing through the clouds. I was using my Canon T1i along with my Canon 18-55mm kit lens. I attached my CIR-PL and my warming filter in order to saturate the sky and warm the clouds. I was using my tripod, bubble level and remote switch since the lighting was so low that there was no way to avoid camera shake or blur from the movement of the camera. The camera was in Program/Normal mode so the aperture was at F-8 and the shutter speed at 1/160 second. I set the ISO to 100 and kept the white balance at 0 due to the low light.
Portland, OR
[/caption] Due to all of the rainy and cold weather that we’ve been getting lately I have decided to post another photo that I took about 2 weeks ago when it was actually sunny and warm. I took this photo on the east side of the Willamette river. The photo is looking towards Salmon Street and Naito Parkway in the central downtown district. If we could only get some more days like this before summer arrives. I took this while riding my bike along the esplanade as well as over some of the bridges that span across the Willamette river. I wasn’t using a tripod when I took this photo but I’m pretty sure I got off of my bike to take this one. I was using my Canon T1i along with my Sigma 17-70mm lens. I was using my CIR-PL as well as my warming filter to enhance the blue sky and the colors of the vegetation and the buildings. The sun was at about 90 degrees in the upper left which made some of these photos crystal clear with little to no overexposure. I set the focal length at 50mm in order to frame the photo with the buildings and blue sky. I had the camera in Program/Normal mode so the aperture was at F-7 and the shutter speed at 1/200 second. I set the ISO to 100 and the white balance at -0.3 so I could create the best photo. The time was 9:55am and the sun was in the upper left hand corner of the photo. I was lucky to have some of the best photographic weather of the year during my trip along the water.