Fall in the Gorge I

I love the fall. It's a great time here with fast moving storms and color. Whenever things look promising and I can get away, I'll head to my closest playground, the Columbia Gorge. It's also amazing how fast things can change in an hour near sunset.

When I first arrived and walked to the Columbia River near Beacon Rock State Park, elk tracks were along the shore, and a family of eagles was hovering over Pierce Island just to the east.

Looking east, with fall colors, eagles and changing clouds

 Moments later, to the west, the sun emerged again to display some amazing colors in the clouds. A strong, low, blue-gray cloud formed overhead, twisting and turning in the wind just above me.

Beautiful warm west light and cool blue light from the north

After the display was fading, the color to the NE near Beacon Rock was developing, so I ran with my gear and tripod over slippery, moss covered stones to a better vantage point with Beacon Rock and Hamilton Mountain.

Fast fading color to the NE

The warm colors receded and darkness approached quickly. A dead Turkey Vulture was in my path along the shore. It seemed fitting to see another cycle in nature. Clouds were still on the move, so I headed nearer to Beacon Rock. Silver Salmon were jumping as I set up the tripod and took some longer exposures of the dynamic motion as darkness approached.

Darkness approaches in the Gorge

Waves and Rialto Beach Beauty

Sometimes, it's not a simple walk on the beach at high tide in winter here on the Pacific. Thankfully the sun graced the skies for another day of exploration and photography, this day at Rialto Beach. Rialto Beach, Olympic National Park, is just north of the Quileute Tribe's village and fishing harbor of La Push. From Rialto Beach, there is nothing but wild beaches 40 miles north to Cape Flattery.

 James Island was a refuge for the Quileute when attacked by other tribes

Rialto Beach consists primarily of stones of various sizes. The water is also quite deep close to shore, so the roar of crashing waves from the west, pounding and pushing massive amounts of stones, makes quite an intense and powerful sound. Waves were washing up into the huge debris field of driftwood. This is no ordinary driftwood, as many of the trees here were old growth beauties, now worn down, sometimes thrown on top of one another during the big storms and waves at high tide.

The beautiful sea stacks and dark beach near Hole in the Wall (far right)

It was high tide as I made my way dodging waves and driftwood to the sea stacks at the north end of the beach. The waves keep me close to the shore, but it was a pleasant, slow walk with just one creek to ford. Sunset was imminent as I approached the sea stacks.

 "Split Rock" sea stacks at sunset

 Last light on the sea stacks with a short-lived ethereal sky

The walk back was gratefully easier, as more beach opened as the tide retreated. The light was quickly retreating as well. If I can see stars, the camera can capture many more. This time of year the summer Milky Way is in the WNW, with Cygnus pointing down to the horizon. A 30 second exposure captured the scene. In the far lower right, you can see the glow of crab boats as the crab season was just opened.

 Sunset Glow and The Milky Way

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Oregon Coast Summer, 2011

After a long, wet, cool Spring, the summer this year was also on the cooler side. Coming to the coast and seeing the sun are two giant pluses. Clouds are also quite welcome, as they create a special drama and beauty. Here is a small sampling of two Oregon evenings this summer.

This first image was taken after a somewhat gray and drizzly day for the first summer workshop mentioned in the previous post. The sky began clearing just in time, opening up to a fabulous series of light and light changes.

Sunset approaches at Arcadia Beach

It was still quite beautiful nearly an hour later, with more blues and magentas reflecting off the beach with the outgoing tide. The cirrus clouds were also putting on quite a display.

Arcadia sea stack and last light

The evening before our next workshop in August, the sky was nearly clear. The light after sunset is again the attraction, here at Hug Point.

Warm glow of the Western skies, and blue from above light the water

If you would like to see more photos of the Summer Oregon Coast, click here...

Last Light on Harris Beach

Finally some sun appeared at sunset at our last evening at Harris Beach. It was a small opening and I arrived late, dropping gear, wondering where to go with the gap between the clouds for the sun rapidly closing.

Last light on rocks on the south beach

Dashed down the beach to the rock group at the very end of the beach. Tide coming in, waves crashing just in front of me on a small rock platform. Fading light on closer rocks, so I used them to frame others with that great light still there. The rock on the left has a sort of a Neanderthal profile.


Sun now behind clouds and disappearing. Looking for other possibilities, the atmosphere of gray returns, with subtle colors and a now receding tide.

Rocks with back lighting as the gray returns