[/caption] Every time I visit the Gorge, I always look for ways to get a different perspective of the many waterfalls in the area. Wile visiting Wahclella falls I decided to take my chances and leap to a rock in order to get this photograph. It was a little sketchy since the water level was at it’s absolute highest level that I had ever seen and the rocks were pretty slippery. However, I decided to chance it even though I was carrying my tripod and all of my lenses. The rock that I was standing on was big enough to allow me to set up my tripod with all three legs extended and I was able to move around as I looked for different photo opportunities. This shot was especially interesting since the perfectly round boulder was pretty much directly centered in my photo with Wahclella falls just above it. The creek was completely surrounding the boulder as well as the massive walls that created the waterfall. To get this shot I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch. I attached my Sigma 17-70mm lens and set the focal length at 17mm in order to get the most panoramic shot as possible. However, since I had attached my ND4, CIR-PL and warming filter there was some vignetting so I had to crop parts of the edges out. I had the camera in shutter priority and set the shutter speed at 4 seconds in order to get the right amount of ghosting from the fast and swollen creek. The aperture was automatically set at F-11 since the ISO was at 100 and the white balance was at -1. I used photoshop to increase the saturation of the vegetation and removed some of the glare from the water.
Monthly Archives: May 2012
The Needles at Cannon Beach, OR
[/caption] A view of the Needles in silhouette, well after sunset, offers a rare cobalt blue view of the beach and sky. A great way to get a very interesting and magical photo along the Pacific Coast is to wait at least 1 hour after the sun has set and then set your shutter priority at around 10-30 seconds and photograph the ghosting of the tide and capture the cobalt colors created in the beach and sky. As long as the horizon isn’t completely obscured by an approaching front you will be able to take advantage of the brilliant colors. This is only one of several that I took but it shows several cool features. You can see the ripples in the sand from the receding tide, the blue colors in the sand and sky, the silhouette of the rocks and the ghosting effect of the water. To get this shot I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch in order to avoid any camera shake or blur. I made sure to turn off the IS on my Sigma 17-70mm lens and set the focal length at 32mm. This photo was taken at around 9:30pm which was about an hour after sunset and that’s about how long it takes for the cobalt blues to come out. I removed my ND and CIR-PL filters since it was pretty dark and there wasn’t much brightness left. However, I did attach my warming filter and set the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -0.3. I set the shutter speed at 15 second and since I had the camera mode in shutter priority the aperture was automatically set at F-9.
A view of the Oregon Coast
[/caption] The trail that starts near the Devil’s Cauldron takes you to the summit of Neahkanie mountain and offers you great views of the Pacific Ocean.
Forest Park trail in Portland, OR
[/caption] Forest Park offers over 50 miles of hiking trails, encompasses over 5100 acres and is Americas largest city park. Since most of the trees in Forest Park consist of second growth and only a small amount of old growth trees it’s hard to imagine just how big the trees once were since most of the trees are massive in height. Once the leaves are full you can pretty much hike anywhere in the park on a rainy day in spring or summer and barely get wet. I’ve hiked the park over 200 times and I finally decided to bring my camera on the same day that I was walking my 1 1/2 year old and very ADHD Australian Cattle dog. I ended up just carrying my camera in one hand and shot with the same hand. It was pretty difficult most of the time since he was on the prowl for moles, birds, squirrels, insects, dirt, sticks or anything else he saw. I just used my thumb to turn on the camera and then pointed and shot. I did use my histogram to check the shots for any camera shake, blur or saturation problems since I wasn’t using a tripod. Luckily I removed my CIR-PL and only attached my warming filter and UV filter so I could take advantage of the lush green colors. I also knew that using a wide angle lens would allow me to get the panoramic shots I wanted as well as create a large field of view, which would also mostly limit any camera shake or blur. I attached my Tokina 12-24mm lens and kept the focal length at 12mm so I could take picture with only one hand. I also increased the ISO to 400 and increased the white balance to +0.3. This kept the shots from being under saturated and eliminated any camera shake or blur. I had the camera in program/normal mode so the aperture was automatically set at F-4.6 and the shutter speed at 1/50 of a second. During my 2 hour hiking adventure I was surprised to take over 700 photos and ended up with several keepers since they came out so well.
Colorful Oregon farmland
[/caption] This is a photo of some really cool flowers that have been springing up all over Oregon’s agriculture land in the north Willamette Vally. I’m not sure the name of the flowers but they sure are pretty awesome and they are growing all over the place. This photo was taken just off of Roy Roger road, which is between Beaverton and Sherwood. I decided to grab my camera and drive to the side of the road and see what type of photos I could come up with. I ended up setting up my tripod and crouched around the field looking for the best spot to take some pictures. I took this shot with my Sigma 17-70mm lens and set the focal length at 17mm in order to get a panoramic view. I had the camera in normal/program mode and since I had the ISO at 100, the white balance at -0.7 and attached my CIR-PL, the aperture was automatically set at F-5 and the shutter speed at 1/100 second. I was facing west and the sun was pretty much at a 90 degree angle since I took this photo at 9:30am. You can see the foothills of the Coastal mountains as well as some of the vineyards and farmlands in the distance. The tall forested trees in the background create a fantastic scene along with the sky.
Haystack Rock and the Pacific Ocean, OR
[/caption] Haystack Rock is just a few feet from the beach at Cannon Beach, OR with it’s western side holding flanks against the crashing waves. This photo was taken from the stairwell about 50 feet above the beach. This was actually my last shot of the evening and I was hoping to get a silhouette of Haystack Rock with the deep cobalt blue colors along with the last remaining colors from the sun. I was amazed that I was able to get exactly what I was hoping for. The cobalt blue color is attained by waiting at least an hour after the sunset and waiting for the sky to turn blue but before the night sky darkens too much. However, if you take it at the right moment you can get some of the last remaining red, orange and yellow colors from the sun. To get this shot I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch in order to avoid any camera shake or blur. I was using my Sigma 17-70mm lens and set the focal length at 38mm since I was quite a ways from the rock. I removed the ND4 and CIR-PL filters since the light was way too low. However, I did keep the warming filter and UV filter attached. Since I had the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -1.3, the aperture was automatically set at F-8 since it was in Shutter Priority. I did set the shutter speed at 20 seconds and because of the long exposure there was plenty of light entering the camera sensor. Sunset was at about 8:40pm and this photo was taken at 9:42pm and the light was very low with only the horizon putting out any light.
Oregon coast sunset at Cannon Beach
[/caption] Here is another photo of a beautiful sunset at Cannon Beach, Oregon. I was able to get so many awesome sunset shots last Saturday that I am going to post as many as I can. The colors were absolutely amazing, as you can see and the sky was lit up with every radiation color the sun could muster. I was using my Canon T1i and my Sigma 17-70mm lens and I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch. The sun had literally just set below the horizon when I took this photo. The amazing explosion of orange and yellows are almost too much to comprehend. I wanted to get as much of the horizon as possible so I increased the telephoto to 70mm and set the ISO to 100 and the white balance at 0. I had the camera mode in TV and set the shutter speed at 2.5 seconds as well as attached my ND4, CIR-PL and warming filter. This caused the aperture to be automatically set at F-22 due to the low light and the filters on the lens. Haystack rock is visible on the right and the swells were just heading back out to sea when I snapped this photo.
Sunset at Cannon Beach, OR
[/caption] You can get some pretty amazing sunset shots at Cannon Beach, OR but the sunset last Saturday was a day to remember. The daytime temperature was 78 degrees and the temperature at sunset was 65 degrees with no wind and not a cloud in the sky. It was short sleeve and shorts kind of weather in May. However, the sunset was even more epic than the weather. The sunset took on the look of a massive nuclear explosion off the Oregon coast with a cascade of orange, yellow and cloud tracers shooting across the sky. The photo pretty much speaks for itself. I did add a lot to the color in photoshop but the raw photo was still pretty awesome. I wanted to really create an intense emotion so I went to town by darkening the highlights and saturating the colors. I ended up with over 75 photos just like this one with some better than others. This is why I live near the Oregon coast. You get the most amazing sunset shots anywhere on the planet. To get this shot I was using my Canon T1i and attached my Sigma 17-70mm lens. I attached my ND4, CIR-PL, warming and UV filter in order to reduce the glare from the intense sun. I made sure to use a tripod, bubble level and remote switch in order to avoid any camera shake or blur. Sunset was at 8:38pm and this particular shot was taken at 9:03pm. The sky literally lit up just before it set and the colors just got more intense as it lowered below the horizon. I wanted to post a panoramic photo so I set the focal length at 19mm since 17mm was too wide and the corners were vignetted due to the ND filter being attached. I had the camera in shutter priority and set the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -1.3. I also wanted to get a nice ghosting effect from the water so I set the shutter speed at 10 seconds. This also caused the aperture to be automatically set at F-22. It was high tide so I wasn’t able to get near the tide pools but I was able to take advantage of the reflection of the rocks and the fast moving water.
Portland and Mt. Hood, OR
[/caption] The Pittock mansion offers a great view of the entire city of Portland as well as Mt. Hood, Aams, St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. Since you’re looking due east the lighting can be challenging as well as the huge trees that block some of the views of the city. You have to get pretty creative when trying to get the best shot and you really have to be patient in order to take advantage of the best lighting. The sunset was at 8:30pm and this photo was taken at 9:10pm so I had to try and get a good photo that took advantage of the city lights but also kept Mt. Hood in view. To get this shot I removed my CIR-PL and attached the warming filter and set the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -0.3. I had the camera in Program/Normal so the aperture was set at F-4 and the shutter speed at 1 second. I was using my Canon 28-135mm lens and set the focal length at 44mm in order to keep some of the vegetation from making an entrance on either side. I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch in order to avoid any camera shake or blur. I arrived at the mansion at about 7:15pm and left just after I took this last photo at 9:10pm. Next time I plan on arriving before sunrise and try to take advantage of the sun coming up just behind the mountain.
Washington Park in Portland, OR
[/caption] When most people think of Portland’s parks they usually think of 5,100 acre Forest Park. However, Washington Park probably has the highest concentration of points of interest in the entire country. The park may only be just over 40 acres but you will be surprised to find the following areas located within the park: Portland zoo, Children’s museum, World Forestry museum, Hoyt Arboretum, International Rose test garden, outdoor stage with grassy sitting area, Portland Japanese garden, two of Portland’s reservoirs, Holocaust memorial, Sacajawea monument, the zoo railway station, several playgrounds, tennis courts and several miles of hiking trails. And you can’t forget that most of the park is very well manicured with thousands of plants and flowers that bloom during Spring and Summer. Washington Park is pretty much the icing on the cake when tourists visit the city. It pretty much closes the book as the most beautiful and greenest cities in the United States. This photo was actually taken within a few hundred feet from the Sacajawea statue. I attached my Sigma 50mm prime/macro lens and attached my warming filter in order to bring out the warming tones of the trees. I removed the CIR-PL since I wasn’t standing in direct sunlight and I didn’t want any camera shake or blur since I wasn’t using a tripod. I set the camera mode at Program/Normal and the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -0.7 which automatically set the aperture at F-3.5 and the shutter speed at 1/100 second.