I’ve just returned from a week long trip to photograph and relax in Oregon for the week. No new Rocky Mountain National Park material as I spend most of last week on the beach in Oregon with my wife and two dogs while my daughter was away in Ecuador on a school trip. It’s the first time in fourteen years that my wife and me have taken a trip together with our daughter in tow. We had never visited the Oregon coast and this seemed like the perfect week to head out to Oregon from Colorado.
With our two dogs in tow we started our drive west early on Saturday morning. While we started early, we were delayed by an tired as our daughters connecting flight from Houston to Quito was cancelled due to weather. For awhile, we were unsure if they would be able to rebook kids and chaperones on another flight so after a long night of waiting, we finally were informed they would get out of Houston, but not for another two days. We did not want to be in the middle of Idaho and get a call that they would be landing in Denver in a few hours and have to make a mad dash back to Colorado. With that settled we headed out.
We made it to Boise in the late afternoon, getting a good portion of our drive out of the way so we could make Cannon Beach by Sunday afternoon. After a relaxing night in Boise, we were off early again and arrived in Cannon Beach, Oregon a little before 2:00 PM. We were a little to early to check into our cottage, so it was off to the beach with the dogs for a walk. It was a spectacular afternoon with sunny skies and warm temperatures near 70 degrees. The beach was packed with summer travelers but the beauty and potential for photography were stunning. With not a cloud in the sky that first night and being tired from the 1300 mile drive out, I set my sights to heading out on the beach for sunrise the following morning.
While I’ve never photographed the Oregon coast prior to last week, I’ve spent a lot of time photographing beaches on the east coast. While the forecast looked clear for sunrise, I always know that the beach often provides it own little microclimate combined with some of the most beautiful and soft light. Here in the mountains of Colorado we have some amazing light, but the light get harsh very quickly after sunrise. I find at sea level, while the light may not be as warm, the soft subtle hues and pastels are great to work with. With some great pastel hues over Haystack Rock and the Needles, I had an spectacular first morning on Cannon Beach which also coincided with low tide.
Ironically, we had clear skies every evening on the beach. This trip, sunrises were where the more interesting light and atmospherics occurred. The 2nd morning on Cannon Beach we had some awesome fog and the marine layer floating just off the beach while the sun was able to break through at sunrise to light the tip of Haystack Rock and the hundreds of birds making their morning rounds on and off the rock. The second morning was really my most productive morning on the beach as the combination of light, fog and clouds with some new found familiarity with my surroundings allowed me to create some beautiful images.
That night, a large earthquake in Russia had prompted a Tsunami warning all over the west coast of the United States. We didn’t sleep well that night as the potential of the Tsunami’s waves were set to arrive just before midnight. Luckily, this massive earthquake did create a large enough Tsunami to really do anything other than raise ocean levels at the beach a foot or so over the tide. I spent the last morning on Cannon Beach enjoying low tide but also still uneasy as the Tsunami warning continued though it appeared we were out of the woods. The last morning was a combination of fog, clouds, sun, mist and drizzle. This felt a lot more like your stereotypical morning of what I picture the Pacific Northwest being like.
After the last morning on beautiful Cannon Beach, we said goodbye and headed up to Astoria for the night to check out the town and famous craft beer scene. We debated heading south down the coast for one more night but with the forecast looking overcast, we figured Astoria would offer a good change of pace before heading back east to Colorado.
After the night in Astoria checking out the town, the riverfront and of course the craft beer scene at Rogue, Astoria Beer Company and my favorite, Fort George it was off bright and early towards Ogden, Utah for the night. We left Astoria early so we would dodge most of the traffic in Portland on the way out. We just happened to be entering the Columbia River Gorge just at sunrise. It was just after 6:00 AM and as we approached the Multnomah Falls parking lot in the middle of I-84, with the parking lot practically empty, I figured a quick stop to let the dogs out and explore one Oregons most beautiful but also most visited waterfalls would be in order. My wife grabbed the dogs and I hustled up the hill to quickly photograph this spectacular waterfall. We had a long drive ahead of us and I only had about a half hour or so to work with. With overcast skies and almost nobody else in the park, it was just about perfect. Just as I was wrapping up, the parking lot was starting to fill. It was a good time to get back on the road and head out.
