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

Eastern Gorge Workshop finds Blooms and Blustery Weather

This time of year is simply great for photography.  On this Saturday, it was a downpour most of the day in Portland, but we escaped to the drier side of the Cascades for a real mix of warm sun, clouds and showers.

First stop was a beautiful field of Camas along the Columbia River. Clouds and filtered sunlight were fine for bring out the beautiful blue flowers, with green grass and moss surrounded with an oak and fir forest.

Katrina moving in for a portrait.

Discussing settings. Thanks John

We arrived at our main destination for the day, Columbia Hills State Park, with a crowd of climbers at Horsethief Butte, above the Columbia River. The sun was blazing as we explored various options to shoot the Balsamroot and basalt cliffs. Didn't think we would need sunscreen! Although there was a lot of activity, there was still plenty of room for making photographs of the flowers and surrounding area.

Randy making it up the trail adorned with Balsamroot

As the weather changed from sun to shower, we headed to The Dalles and lunch at Petite Provence. There is nothing Petite about their entrees. After lunch we reviewed some of the photographs of the morning shoot.

The weather was looking more unsettled as we drove back to Washington and the lovely hills of the Dalles Mountain Ranch. The lupine were just getting started, but the Balsamroot was covering the hills in every direction. We hiked to some vistas, making it back to the van before another shower arrived.

We explored the eastern section of this area, then headed back for some very fine vistas, beautiful, fast changing light.

Fast changing conditions for us along the Dalles Mt. Road

What to shoot next? Thanks, Randy.

Last stop was back to Horsethief Butte with hopes of some sun on the Butte before it went behind the ridge. We did have some interesting clouds and a nice rainbow. A very pleasant day of beauty and changing conditions.

Added surprise at the end of the day

Columbia Hills/Eastern Gorge Flower and Scenics Workshop

After a week of rain, the weather Gods smiled upon our April workshop and bestowed some fine weather for us to dry out a bit and get some photography done in the beautiful Washington Columbia Hills area of the Columbia Gorge. It wasn't a free ride however, as the wind really kicked in, with gusts at times well over 30 knots. 

First stop was an area along the Columbia with a beautiful field of Camas flowers and wind swept trees. Wind swept it was, so we settled for higher ISO settings and also handheld shots to stop the action and get really low and close to the flowers.

Talking about possibilities and framing. Courtesy, John Camp

John Camp getting low to get close and personal with the Camas. Courtesy, Joanne Nelson.

Next we headed to the Horsethief Butte area, finding just a little shelter from the wind at the east end of the Butte. The Arrowhead Balsamroot was blooming, as well as other wildflowers, including Death Camas. We then drove to The Dalles for lunch at the Petite Provence and afterwards a review/discussion session. 

Following lunch we visited the rolling country side of the Columbia Hills and the Dalles Mountain Ranch. With hillsides covered with flowers, we enjoyed mostly sunny skies and some beautiful clouds to the west, with a subdued Mt. Hood in the distance.

Clouds, flowers sun and a strong wind were our companions. Courtesy, John Camp

We made our way to the high point on the Dalles Mt. Road, then headed back, making a few stops when the light was right in certain areas. All was clouds to the west, so it was nice to have some sun, beautiful flowers and scenery the entire day. Thanks to all for a fun outing. 

Taking a break and taking it in

You can view a small collection of the participant's many fine photos here>>

Horsethief Butte in the Central Columbia Gorge

With the unrelenting rain fest in the the Pacific Northwest, the only two places with some degree of sunshine was 90 miles to the east, in Central Oregon and 350 miles to the north, on the Sunshine Coast of B.C.. Needing more shots of the "dry" side of the Cascades in the Gorge, it seemed like a good time for some late afternoon photography.

The rain and mist grew heavy in the waterfall part of the Gorge, but blue was visible in the East!

A prominent formation of basalt known as Horsethief Butte always looked like a great place to explore and photograph. Many years ago I made a brief stop and vowed to return. It was a great day here, but also a great wind was blowing from the west, which added drama, interesting cloud formations and swaying vegetation.

Horsethief Butte

Horsethief Butte is a great promontory with interesting basalt formations and plant life. I climbed up the north side to do a bit of rock scrambling for fun. It was very windy, with gusts in the 35 knot range, so it was really blowing on top. Found a few back eddies to shelter from the wind and enjoy the view.

View looking north towards the Columbia Hills from the top

After exploring the central part of the Butte, I took the trail around. Sun was beaming in and out of view and getting close to the hills in the NW. I set up for taking a panoramic view, hoping the sun would hit the Butte one more time before disappearing over the hills. I was rewarded.

Sunbeam on the Butte with clouds haloing top

Strong winds and mountains can create interesting cloud formations. This long lenticular cloud formed down the Columbia River valley, constantly changing shape. There was also a bit of green in the grasses left before the heat of summer really takes hold here.

Lenticular cloud at Horsethief Butte

The clouds and light looked like it might develop well over Mt. Hood, so a found a clear view and waited. Rewarded again with the clouds clearing away and lighting up like a neon sign at sunset. It was the longest day of the year, so it was getting late.

Lenticular and clearing storm clouds over Mt. Hood