Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Spring in the Eastern Gorge Workshop

After a very wet March, April provided some needed sunshine and great conditions for photography. All the rain and then sun added to a spectacular display of wildflowers in the Columbia Hills and surrounding areas. Of particular beauty was the Arrowleaf Balsamroot and Lupine blooming concurrently.
Suzanne Michalik, ©2016
Under blue skies with some cirrus clouds, we headed directly to Columbia Hills State Park in Washington state, and drove up the lumpy road to the small parking area above the Dalles Mt. Ranch. The oak trees were just starting to leaf out, adding a nice warm color to the opulent flower display.

Setting up along a flower covered hillside
John Camp, ©2016
Carol Enyart, ©2016
We moved to a lower area in late morning, where there were different groupings of flowers and trees. This area also has some nice views of the flower covered Columbia Hills, the Columbia River and Mt. Hood.
Kira Bartlett, 2016
After a very fine lunch at the Baldwin Saloon in The Dalles, we visited the beautiful Horsethief Butte State Park, which adjoins Columbia Hills. There are many subjects to choose from here, with some added clouds and lovely light on the Columbia near sunset. Even the contrails looked pretty good. We also had a nice ring around the sun through the cirrus clouds.
Suzanne Michalik, ©2016
 It was a great day of photography and a full day of capturing some of the beauty found here. If you would like to see more images from this workshop, click here>>
Working to capture the last light on the Butte. Kira Bartlett, ©2016