Painted Hills Abstract

My favorite lens is the 10-22 wide angle lens but at the Painted Hills there were opportunities to use a telephoto lens. The challenge was getting lines and shapes in balance.

Technical: WB at 7500

Waiting for color

I arrived as the moon was setting through the clouds and the eastern sky was overcast. The meadowlarks were singing but no color. Finally the sun broke through for a minute or so, just long enough to arrange a few compositions. All in all, a memorable morning.

Painted Hills

Oregon has tremendous diversity and is a photographer's dream. One out of the way treasure is a national monument known as John Day Fossil Beds. Mitchell is the nearest town, population 103, and has a great drive through coffee shop for the caffeine starved photographer. I'm starting with this shot to give a sense of place.  My daughter has been our tour guide. You can see her images of Oregon at: Forty-five Degrees North

Calm waters

Another shot from the Ecola overlook with a different technique. The wind and waves have a calming, mesmerizing effect that I have attempted to convey using an eight second exposure to smooth out the waves. The contrast between the smooth water and rough rock seems to be more pronounced with this technique.
Technical: variable density filter used to create slow shutter speed

Spring Break

We are in the Portland area for Easter and travelled to Cannon Beach yesterday. Ecola State Park is a great site to hike and watch the waves. It also allowed me to experiment with long exposures to slow the wave action. The challenge was getting a unique image during a very short visit.
Technical: 1/30 second exposure, WB 5000

Smith's Rock State Park

This shot was taking after a great hike around one of the most popular sport climbing locations in Oregon. As one of afraid of heights I looked down more than up and took this shot. The larger rock is interpreted as heavier by the brain and anchors the image while the smaller stones lead me to the top of the image. Technical: Taken handheld with a Canon Elph. What is the difference between the two shots, a saturation or exposure adjustment? Answer: The larger shot is 1/2 stop darker which increases the color saturation of the water's color.