A Quick Drive Through the Gorge

One of my Flickr contacts has been posting photos of serious flooding up near Mt. Hood this week, so I decided I should probably drive out to the Gorge and get some pictures of the waterfalls with above-normal flows.  I guess I would have been smarter to get out there two days ago, when it was pouring rain and melting all the snow off the mountains, but these are more dramatic than what I've gotten during the summer.

I didn't do any hiking, instead I just drove my car down the Columbia highway and hit a few of the dramatic falls on that route.  It took just over an hour to get from Multnomah Falls through Latourelle, luckily there wasn't much traffic and the crowds were very light... at Latourelle, I was the only one there!



As usual, there are more photos from this and other series' over on my flickr page.  I hope you've enjoyed these few photos, and hopefully I'll be getting more of them here soon.




I guess this is as good a spot as any to throw in the photos I took a few weeks ago when the gorge was all frozen over and I didn't really get to see anything other than a frozen Multnomah Falls. That was pretty neat.



Thanks for looking in! Have a great week, everyone.

Highlights of Several Recent Shoots

I've been out taking a lot of pictures lately.  The weather here has been great for photography, in that it has been raining modestly with little wind.  Over the last week, I've gone out several times to take some pictures, getting a pretty decent variety of shots, the highlights of which I am showing here.  As usual, there are additional pictures from these shoots on my flickr page.















Fall and winter are among my favorite times to take pictures, so with any luck I'll be a lot more active over the next few months.  We don't get a lot of snow and ice here in Portland, but there's often some to be seen a short drive away, so I'm expecting to catch some of it in the next few months.  Should be a good winter for photography.

Thanks for taking the time to look, I hope you've enjoyed.

Weisendanger Falls, Some Industrial Stuff, and a Sunset

I've been trying to stay active the last week, pushing some boundaries and just doing my best to be motivated and getting out.



Spring time is my favorite time to go hiking, I love the wet trails and generally busier creeks. I was hoping the recent wet, cool weather would equal plenty of snow melt and higher water, but it wasn't really anything I noticed.



The rain was perfect for me, coming down heavily for about fifteen minutes as I reached my turn-around point, and then just sort of spitting out a little bit for the two hours I shot on my way back to the trail head. The wind wasn't really a factor, so I was able to use my umbrella when needed, and caught most of these exposures umbrella-free.





I've also decided that it is time for me to familiarize myself with post-processing on my images, mostly in hopes that when I am taking pictures for a living I will be prepared to fix up some images that aren't quite where I want them. I shot this industrial shoot with that in mind, it really required me to rethink my whole approach.



Lucky for me I haven't had the need to learn much yet, although what I've picked up in the last week has been really helpful. I've learned to heighten my contrast without giving an artificial look to my images, which is great. I've also picked up a tip or two I might need when I take some portraits, although none of those practice images are here.



I hope you've enjoyed seeing these! Not much else to report, I'm just keeping my head down, working through my planning, and trying to stay positive. I'm on my way to making this work!

Hiking up Eagle Creek

One of the most popular hikes in the Portland area is Eagle Creek, deep in the Columbia River gorge.  This hike is popular for a reason, as it leads to gorgeous cliff-side views and some outstanding waterfalls.





Some may recall photos I've taken of the area over the years, especially of Punchbowl Falls, which we'll see more of here shortly.  On Sunday, I made some great time hiking up, and ended up going further than I had in the past before I decided to turn around.  I had to say, the new area I found (past the "high bridge") is gorgeous and worth the effort.





The day was reasonably warm, and although the air was damp it never really rained.  The hike was surprisingly crowded for a winter's Sunday (especially with the superbowl on) but aside from that it was a great day to be out.  It really is a great trail to conquer.



Previous photos of Punchbowl falls have had an annoying distraction, which luckily has been swept away over the winter.  When I visited this year, the giant log had fallen and washed up on the small rocky beach nearby.  I had to climb over it to get out into the stream and take this shot, but I sure am glad I had to... it looks a lot nicer without that log there.

Fall Colors at Silver Creek Falls

I know a lot of you consider fall to be the best time of the year.  I'm not quite convinced that any time of the year is better than any other, but I'll allow that fall is beautiful and has a lot to offer.  I think it's probably the best season for photography, since it offers great colors, more rain, and a much better selection of evening skies.



Since Fall is really kicking in here in Oregon, I decided last weekend to head down to Silver Creek Falls.  It was supposed to be raining all day with no wind, so I figured it would be perfect for some great wet shots of the trees and creek and whatnot.



It rained for a lot of the drive down, which was fine. I like driving in the rain, I feel so warm and comfortable in my car, and it's always like "Take that nasty weather!  I'll show you."  I'm not sure what I am showing, other than my ability to make a car payment.



I always seem to think I can find a better way to get to Silver Falls, and inevitably I end up getting lost.  There are a lot of back roads crossing the valley between Portland and Salem, and it seems like I have determined that I will drive down each one of them.  On this trip, I wanted to replicate a drive I had taken the last time I visited, and planned out with a map before I left.  I was to take Hwy 213 from I-205.  It's so simple, I didn't even need to write it down.



I'm not really all that familiar with the exits on I-205, since I basically only use a small section of it to get around town.  So I was trying to pay close attention, in the rain, in somewhat heavy traffic.  Suddenly there was a slew of highway offerings.  212.  224.  So many to choose from.  But no 213?  I must be confused and need 212.  224 is too big.

Then, as I get off the freeway onto 212, I see a sign for 213, just the next exit up... since it's about impossible to get back on the freeway, I figure I can just drive south on surface streets.  Ah, to be so optimistic...



I won't bore you any more than I already have, suffice it to say I spent a half an hour longer than I wanted driving around some very pretty back roads before I finally found my way back to 213.  It was beautiful and frustrating at the same time.  I didn't arrive at Silver Falls until almost an hour after I had planned, and of course by then the rain had all dried up.



I quickly revised my plans for the hike based on my late arrival.  It didn't really change much... I've hiked along the North Fork of Silver Creek plenty of times and know how far I can get in what period of time.  I also know all the spots from which to take photos, so it didn't require a lot of critical thinking on my part.  I just had to hustle.



So I hurried down the path and made it to my turnaround point at just the right time.  I know I keep mentioning it, but 365 has really shaped the way I think through my photography, and I found it second-nature to make specific plans for each of my shots as I was walking down the path.  That was really cool.  All of these were planned out as I passed through the first time... and they all came out!



I even learned from previous trips and made it to the north end before it got too dark for any photos.  As you should be able to see, it was a close call!  I probably should have moved a little more quickly, or skipped one or two of the more boring shots.  I think there was one vantage point from which none of the shots made the final cut.  Should have skipped that I suppose.



As it is, I was very happy with the results.  I hope you are too!  Happy Fall!