Teepee at Sunset

This is one of the teepees at the campground we stayed at on the Owyhee reservoir. This was taken the day after the big wind storm hit with 50-60 MPH sustained winds. As you can see, the teepee was still standing and only a little worse for wear. The trees in the picture are quite blurry because it was still windy at this point and this is an HDR composite which includes 3 exposures. I kind of like the blurry trees though since it helps tell the story.

Valley of the Giants

I went on an excursion to the Valley of the Giants today with some friends. It's a relatively short drive from home, up into the Oregon coast range west of Monmouth. The last stretch is approximately 20 miles of gravel road, winding through the hills and patches of clear-cut forest. It is a beautiful area where loggers had dared not go because of the rough terrain. So, there are a fair amount of original growth trees standing tall, with trunks as wide as any I have seen in this part of Oregon. We hiked a trail that took us deep into the forest to a spot where one of these massive trees blew over in a wind storm. It was raining most of the time and it was difficult to protect the camera and lenses from the water. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of this massive tree. However, on the way in, we crossed a bridge over a small stream and I risked the camera and myself (slipping on the rocks) to take some long exposure HDR shots. The best of which is posted below. I did take a few more pictures along the trail that will be up on Flickr soon.

Update on Monday, May 21, 2012 at 6:21PM by Anthony Sheler

This image is now available as a free wallpaper here. Or, buy a print from the store under Oregon Scenery!

Gas Station Graffiti

On Hwy 20, just outside of Corvallis, Oregon (to the Northeast I believe), there is an old gas station that has been closed down for some time. It's been tagged with graffiti frequently, with either obscene or very political statements mostly. My wife and I passed by it on our way to do some grocery shopping in Corvallis and I noticed a rather interesting message on the side of the building. It said "Your best investment" with a painting of a finger pointing out at the viewer. I thought it was worth going back to take a picture.

Haceta Head

For sunset the other night, we decided to go down to Haceta Head, just North of Florence, Oregon. The lighthouse there is under repair but it's still a scenic area. I took several pictures during "magic hour" as the sun was dipping down toward the horizon. In this HDR shot, you can't quite see the lighthouse with all it's scaffolding because it's hidden behind some trees, but there's a nice view of the house up on the cliff with the two giant rocks leading out into the ocean. A father and daughter are prepparing to watch the sunset on the far right of the frame as well.

Sea Lion Caves

We just got back from a two night stay on the Oregon Coast near Yachats. We stopped in at the Sea Lion Caves yesterday morning. It's a few miles north of Florence. I had been there before, but my wife hadn't. She had second thoughts when we stepped on the elevator to go down into the cave and the stench nearly overwhelmed her. Fortunately, the cave itself was much more pleasant. We had the place mostly to ourselves for the first few minutes so I setup my tripod for a few shots. With the lower light, I had to use longer exposures than I'd normally like to for animals and moving objects, but The Sea Lions were mostly subdued and there was more light than I expected coming in. The following is a HDR composite shot with the small island in the foreground and one of the legs of the cave leading out to the ocean behind it. The sea lion on the top of the island seemed to be posing there for me.

I also have a wide shot of the whole cave, but I was unable to position the tripod close enough to the bars protecting us tourists to keep them out of the shot. I'll throw it up on Flickr anyway if you are interested.