Sun(!!) and Stars at the Oregon Coast

After weeks of rain and cold, the weather finally looked like it was going to break for a nanosecond. It was time to head to the Oregon coast for some much needed sun therapy and hang out in one of my most favorite places on the coast, Hug Point State Park. The thought of having to put on sunscreen actually sounded good.

Although the tide was going out, large wave action was sufficient to make it difficult to round the head and get further north from the parking lot, so I approached the beach from above. Also wanted to get some shots of the caves, but it would have been too risky to venture in there. There were a few loonies tempting fate, but it seemed exceeding dangerous.

Freezing the action with this back-lit photo of Falls Creek Falls

Park-like tranquility above the beach leads to a very active and beautiful interaction between waves and waterfall. The worn sandstone with the basalt make for colorful and warm rock formations. One of the major highlights is the waterfall.

Colorful little rainbows dot the places where the creek meets the beach

The "plan" was to photograph here for some time and then head to Ecola State Park, but the weather was so inviting and the area so beautiful, it seemed better to stay and relax.

After meeting up with family members at Arch Cape, I headed back to Portland. Part of the plan was also to take some photographs with the light of the moon. Although tired, a few stops yielded some nice photographs before the clouds moved in, in advance of the next very wet storm, the very next day ;(

The famous Haystack Rock with the lights of the crabbing boats offshore

Click here to see more photographs of this shoot on my website...

Beginning Digital Photography Presentation at Intel

Portland Community College's Community Education has recently started a series of lunchtime program for Intel employees. I gave the inaugural lecture on using some more creative settings on your camera to control exposure and white balance.

That's yours truly in the distance

Initially, we thought their would be approximately 30-50 people interested. As the event neared, it appeared quite a few (well over 200) had added this talk to their calendar. The day before the talk, a timely decision was made to move this to a larger venue. I made a few changes to my presentation.

When the event began, there were ~40 people there. In another 5 minutes, another 150 people appeared! People were standing in the back. Total count was over 200.

The talk went well, with a very attentive group with questions and interest. It was a great way to start this series for PCC, and I enjoyed the interaction.

Looking foreword to my next lecture on Travel Photography in April.

Thanks to Shannon K. Phillips of Intel for the iPhone pics

Columbia Gorge Water and Ice

The Columbia Gorge in winter can be very wet, icy and enchanting, and, as a bonus, far less populated. Travelling with my son Gabe, we ate lunch, overlooking the gorge at the Ainsworth State Park exit, then spent the rest of an afternoon at the ever beautiful Elowah Falls.

It was too icy to approach the falls without the right gear, but the overall scene was pleasant, cold and calm.

Composite image of Elowah Falls

Next we headed up to Upper McCord Creek Falls. We could see from below that there was plenty of ice, so we thought we would see if the trail was safe enough. One really wouldn't want to do this with the ice and no hand rail, unless you had proper climbing equipment. We had to duck under the beautiful icicles, which also formed smooth ice under our feet.

Gabe ducking the icicles. Elowah Falls below in lower left corner

After dodging the icicles, beautiful Upper McCord Creek Falls was gently surrounded by ice, frost and a light snow.

Upper McCord Creek Falls, near day's end