One of the best Coast lines, along the Pacific Ocean, sits between Brooking’s Oregon and Gold Beach, Oregon. Here is where you will find Oregon’s Gold Coast. You will find yourself drenched in the warm evening sunset’s, warm breezy afternoon’s and sunny and cool morning’s. Late summer and early Fall are the best times to experience the Mediterranean type climate that rushes through Southern Oregon’s coastline. Here you will also find Oregon’s pine apple express that brings warm offshore winds as they collide with the warm beaches. There are also hundred’s of miles of trails that take you inside the coastal mountains or drop you into the many private and hidden beaches. You may also spend several days navigating some of the amazing river’s that work their way towards the Pacific Ocean. If you don’t want to spend all of your time in hotel’s you can choose from the many camping grounds that are scattered throughout the region. If you enjoy taking photos I would recommend that you bring all of your camera gear since you will be amazed at the possibilities available. There are botanical gardens, rocky cliff’s, wildlife, waterfalls, creeks, lighthouses, seabirds, and the list goes on and on.
Tag Archives: Southern Oregon Coast
Cape Ferrelo along the Southern Oregon Coast
[/caption] With a view like this, who needs to ever leave Oregon if you want to visit one of the most beautiful places along the Pacific Ocean. Again, the Southern Oregon coast offers some of the most spectacular views on the edge of North America. The hiking trails are well kept and rarely over run with hikers. You can hike along the edge of the cliffs that separate you between the ocean and the Siskiyou National Forest. There are literally dozens of hidden beaches begging to be discovered as well as hundreds of rocks that shroud the rocky coastline waiting to be photographed. If you like to camp, you are really in luck since there are several campsites throughout the Southern Oregon coast. They are very well maintained and extremely quiet. You will also have access to some of the best scenery and beach access in the state. I took this photo looking north and away from the sun. This photo includes Cape Ferrelo and Whalehead in the far distance. The same trail will also take you to the secluded beach just below the cape. the Siskiyu National Forest borders the coastline and there are several creeks entering the ocean via the beach below. I witnessed several sea birds flying close to the rocks and could hear several sea lions just below from where I was standing. I was standing on a narrow cliff that juts out and stands over a hundred feet above the crashing surf below. I was using my Canon T1i and attached my Sigma 17-70mm lens and had the focal length at 25mm. I was using my tripod, bubble level and remote switch since the wind was howling and I was standing on an exposed ledge with no vegetation to block the wind. The camera was in normal/program mode and I set the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -0.7. The aperture was automatically set at F-5.6 and the shutter speed at 1/100 second since I had also attached my CIR-PL and warming filter in order to eliminate some of the sun glare. The sun was directly behind me and I took the photo at about 9:20am. If you plan to visit and take pictures I would recommend that you bring several batteries and memory cards. I took over 1500 photos in just three days and had to recharge my lithium batteries several time since the sunsets are fantastic and I took several long exposures.
Southern Oregon Coast
[/caption] Samuel H. Boardman state scenic corridor offers some of the best views along the Oregon coast. There are over 20 miles of trails that take you along narrow stretches of cliffs as well as private and seldom visited beaches. There are so few people that experience this part of Oregon that you can pretty much expect to have the entire trail system to your self. Only the most easily accessible parts of the trail system are populated with hikers or tourists. This photo was taken along a very unique part of the trail. The trail took you to the very edge of the cliffs and you could look directly down to the rough surf below. The views were awesome and there were dozens of wildflowers spread out along a bare stretch high above the cliffs. I decided to set up my tripod far enough away from the dangerous cliffs in order to try to get a good photo of the wildflowers and the streaming clouds high above. I was also wanting to include some of the rock islands and the ocean that seems far below. The winds were howling so I tried to position myself in order to avoid any camera shake. I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch and set the camera to IS. I was hoping to have a short exposure and large field of view so I set my Sigma 17-70mm lens to 17mm and positioned the camera at about 45 degrees towards the wildflowers. The camera was in program/normal mode and I attached my CIR-PL and warming filter due to the intense glare. I also had the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -0.7, which caused the aperture to be at F-6.3 and the shutter speed at 1/160 second. I took this photo at about 4:30pm and the sun was at about a 90 degree angle, which helped me eliminate most of the glare. For the best photo opportunities you want to visit during late spring or early summer since most of the wildflowers are at there best during these months. The temperatures are perfect but the wind can be a little chilly.
Secret Beach along the Southern Oregon Coast
[/caption] Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, along the Southern Oregon coast, offers some of the most amazing viewpoints in the state. You will be amazed at the solitude and scenic beauty found throughout this protected area. This photo was taken at Secret beach which is a hidden beach access that you need to look for on a trail map. The trail starts from Hwy 101 and gradually winds its way to the beach. The views are amazing and the beach is rich with tide pools, waterfalls, wildlife and offers pristine beaches with several rock islands in the close distance. I took this shot of the tall and skinny rock because it created such a dynamic photo opportunity. It looks like an alien ship that had crashed landed on the beach thousands of years ago with only its shell remaining. The rock islands are framed in the background with the moon hovering in the far distance. The intense blue sky creates a magical contrast with the perfectly manicured sand in the foreground. I was using my Sigma 17-70mm lens and had the focal length at 17mm. I was standing pretty close to the rock but I wanted to ensure the field of view was good in order to have everything in focus. The camera was in Program/Normal mode so the aperture was at F-3.5 and the shutter speed at 1/64 second. I had the ISO at 100 and the white balance at -1 in order to eliminate any glare and ensure that the blue sky was well saturated but avoid any grainy texture. It was about 11:05am and the sun was high in the sky but I was able to stand near a massive cliff that was hiding much of the suns glare. I also attached my CIR-PL and warming filter and also made sure to use my tripod, remote switch and bubble level in order to avoid any camera shake or blur.
Southern Oregon Beach, OR
[/caption] If you didn’t know that this beach was located in Oregon you would think that this photo was taken somewhere else in the world. Samuel H. Boardman State Park has dozens of opportunities to photograph some of the most scenic and isolated places available along the west coast of the United States. This particular beach barely gets 100 visitors a year and that’s mostly due to the fact that no one really knows that it exists as well as the fact that the populations along the coast is very small. I was so impressed with this beach that I wanted to see if I could get a photo of the water moving while setting the shutter priority in order to get the movement. However, it was 11:20am and the sun was very high overhead since this photo was taken on 6/23/11. Luckily, I was able to find some shade just below the massive rocks to the left and I was able to keep the sun at a 90 degree angle. I made sure to attach my ND4 as well as my CIR-PL and warming filter so I could cut down the amount of sun entering through the lens. I was using my Sigma 17-70mm lens and set the focal length to 17mm in order to maximize the field of view and get the most panoramic photo that I could. I was only able to set the shutter speed to 2 seconds due to the brightness of the sun but I was happy with the movement of the water as the wave receded from the beach. I set the ISO at 100 and reduced the white balance to -0.2 so I could keep the exposure to a minimum. The aperture was automatically set at F-22 due to the filters that I was using as well as the ISO and white balance setting.
South Oregon Coast
[/caption] I found two small waterfalls that were cascading just yards from the beach and tried to see if I could get the creek in the foreground and the ocean in the background while setting the shutter priority. The only big problem was that it was 10:50am and there were no clouds to shade the camera from the bright sun. I decided to put myself in a very shady part of the creek that was sheltered by the sun by a 100 foot cliff. I was wanting to get the most panoramic view in order to show the blur of the creek as well as the ocean. I made sure to attach my ND8 filter as well as my CIR-PL and warming filter in order to limit the overexposure. The fastest speed that I could use was at 2 seconds so I set the ISO to 100 and the white balance to -2 in order to ensure that the aperture would be set at F-20 or higher. I had the camera mode in shutter priority so the aperture was set at F-20 which worked out perfect. I made sure to use my tripod, bubble level and remote switch to avoid any camera shake or blur. I was using my Sigma 17-70mm lens and opened the lens as much as I could at 17mm. The foreground has almost too much shadow and the ocean is too overexposed. If I had been here earlier in the morning or later in the evening this would have been a much better photo. This photo was taken at the Sameul H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor and I am definitely coming back asap. I was amazed to see so many wildflowers hanging from the sheer cliffs as well as the dozens of sea birds and a very adventurous seal poking its head out of the water as I scanned for photo opportunities.
Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, OR
[/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.
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.
Shore Acres State Park, OR
[/caption] The Southern part of the Oregon coast is far different than the Northern Oregon coastline. In fact, it doesn’t really resemble it at all. Maybe it was the warmer temperatures, large number of lighthouses or the limited number of towns dotting this part of the coast. However, you will be truly amazed at the beauty and serenity that can be found. This photo was taken while hiking along Shore Acres State Park, just south of Coos Bay. We were camping within the park so we were able to fully explore the entire area which included Cape Arago State Park. There are several hiking trails that parallel the coast and a quick walk to the formal gardens that boasts hundreds of different types of flowers. I was using my Panasonic DMC-FZ30 point and shoot when I took this photo. The camera mode was in Program/Normal mode so the aperture was at F-5.6 and the shutter speed at 1/250 second. I attached my warming filter and CIR-PL to offset the harsh light from the summer sun. I set the ISO to 80 and kept the white balance at 0 in order to limit any overexposure since the sun was directly overhead. This part of the coastline is a photographers paradise with dozens of beaches, cliff views, wildlife, lighthouses, waterfalls and hiking trails galore.