Oregon

• Eugene Delacroix.

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Another shot of the Yaquina head light. I am still amazed by the number of different compositions that were possible at this location. I took this shot while we were walking away from the lighthouse using the road as a leading line to the lighthouse.

Hope everyone like it..

• Arthur Young.

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Here is another shot of the Upper Butte falls from our Oregon trip. This shot was taker directly from in front of the falls as I wanted to show the beautiful curtain form of the fall. This is one of the most memorable locations on our Oregon road trip and riding through a bone jarring stretch of forest road was totally worth it.

Hope everyone likes it..

The Coquille River Lighthouse near Bandon, Oregon was built to mark the entrance to the Coquille River and to help mariners get past the ever-shifting sand bars. The light would also serve as a coast light for vessels heading up and down the Pacific Ocean.

Prior to 1850, the area around the Coquille River was primarily settled by the Coquille Indians. In 1851, gold was discovered at the nearby Whiskey Run Beach, but its discovery didn't have the same effect as the gold rush in California.

The first permanent settlers arrived in the area in 1853, no doubt attracted by gold, lumber, and fishing. By 1859, a small port was established on the Coquille River to allow access to all inland produce and resources. The town of Averille was established in 1873 by George Bennett and his sons, but was changed to Bandon a year later, named for Bandon, Ireland, which the Bennett Family hailed from.

Golden orange sunset late summer.

• Elizabeth Bowen.

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Punch bowl falls, located at Columbia River gorge, Oregon. This was the second shot I made at the location after our extensive hike. Compared to the drought ridden California, Oregon’s rivers had good water flow so I had to settle for a shot from far away. A bunch of kids actually swam across to the closer vantage point but one of the unfortunately could not swing back due to hypothermia and had to be evacuated that day. So I am quite glad that I didn’t try to get deep into the water.

Thanks for visiting and have a great day..

The Office Bridge (also called Westfir Covered Bridge) is a covered bridge in Westfir, Lane County, Oregon, U.S. crossing the North Fork Middle Fork Willamette River at the south end of the Aufderheide National Scenic Byway and edge of the Willamette National Forest. It is Oregon's longest covered bridge at 180 ft (55 m), and is one of only two in the state using triple Howe truss construction. It is the only covered bridge west of the Mississippi River which has a separate pedestrian walkway. Each Christmas season, the town decorates the bridge with lights. A firetruck driven by Santa turns the lights on the first week after Thanksgiving.

Lavender Valley, which is the name of this farm, is a beautiful 6 acre hidden gem just 30 minutes south of Hood River, Oregon. The farm is located in the beautiful Hood River Valley within view of the picturesque Mt. Hood, standing tall at over 11,000 feet. The farm has a 360 degree view of the surrounding landscape and farms. The farm is free to anyone who wants to walk through the beautiful lavender field or take some amazing photos. If you want to make an amazing bouquet of lavender to take home, it is only 4 dollars to pick your own.

On my own photo preview program this didn't seem as saturated with color. Not the first time my images' colors looked different after posting on this site.

Early morning, low tide. Between the forest fire smoke and the coastal haze the light had a faint pink hue.

Whitehorse Falls is the smaller but arguably prettier of the two named waterfalls along the Clearwater River. The falls occur where the river sluices through a narrow trough in rhyolitic bedrock and suddenly crashes 14 feet over a wall into a large pool below. Though the falls are located several miles downstream of Clearwater Falls, there is often less water present in Whitehorse Falls due to the integration of the river in the North Umpqua Hydroelectric system. The flow is consistent all year long, just not in tune with its natural levels nearly as much as it should be.

Access to the waterfall and its trail is only through U.S. Highway 138. The area around the waterfall is surrounded by moss-covered rocks and canopy of old growth Douglas-fir forest.

Owyhee (oh-WHY-hee) Reservoir or Owyhee Lake is a reservoir on the Owyhee River in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. Located in far Eastern Oregon near the Idaho border, the reservoir is Oregon's longest at 52 miles (84 km). The name of the lake is from the older spelling of "Hawaii." It was named for three Hawaiian trappers, in the employ of the North West Company, who were sent to explore the uncharted river. They failed to return to the rendezvous near the Boise River and were never seen again. Due to this, the lake and its region were named "Owyhee".

This is a combination of two images to get this effect. I just couldn't get the dramatic effect I wanted with what I had shot so I borrowed the sunset from another image and combined the two images.

Crissey is the surname of one William L., who owned the property in the middle part of the 20th century. The term Field has a dual meaning both for the flowers grown in his extensive flower fields and the airfield utilized on the land prior to being acquired by the state park system. Mr. Crissey moved to Brookings with his wife in 1928, at the time home to about 250 residents. Soon after, the Easter lily was added to his floral inventory. Crissey pioneered the commercial sale of this flower for which the small coastal community of Brookings was later renowned.

This picture has been stitched together from 8 individual pictures. The Crater Lake was formed ~ 7700 years ago in the caldera after the eruption and collapse of Mount Mazama. It has the cleanest water in the USA, almost free of suspended particles, it is also very deep, that´s why the color appears as dark blue. The volcanic cone shaped island on the left is Wizard Island (4400 years old), the small islet on the right is named as Phantom Ship island.

• Thomas Browne.

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Another old shot from our trip toe the wonderful state of Oregon. This spot from the women’s forum park provides an iconic view of the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. Its almost impossible not to go for a wide-angle lens here. And that’s exactly what I did, but I noticed that there were a lot of finer details in the scene even on a day when we had pretty flat light at sunset without much drama in the sky.

So, I attempted a pano stitch as it was getting darker by the minute. Unfortunately, couple of pics from the pano turned out to have some vibration in them teaching me the valuable lesson to always check for sharpness and focus. But this one was pretty decent with the vista house bathed in absolutely gorgeous golden light along with the cliffside.

Like North Falls further upstream, Middle North Falls has certain characteristics which one could argue give it an edge when comparing it to the park's main attraction, South Falls. Despite being considerably shorter, Middle North Falls is a markedly amorphous waterfall which changes physical shape in a very dramatic way as the volume of water in North Silver Creek changes. The 106 foot tall falls take the form of a narrow column of water during the summer months, funneled to perhaps 5 feet wide at most by a narrow runnel in the bedrock. With greater stream flow in the winter and spring months however, North Silver Creek sheets out across the 60-foot wide creek bed and turns the falls into a broad curtain of water, with part of the falls impacting on a twisting chute of basalt which then slides to join the more volumnous half of the creek in the plunge pool.

Middle North Falls is one of four waterfalls in Silver Falls State Park which features a trail which traverses behind the falling water. Unlike the other three, the trail leading behind Middle North Falls is a dead-end, constructed purely to allow access to additional views of the falls.

• Edmund Burke.

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After a very cold and windy sunset at Sparks lake we decided to hit the landmark attraction of Bend, the Smith Rock State Park. The sheer cliffs of tuff and basalt are ideal for rock climbing of all difficulty levels. Smith Rock is generally considered the birthplace of modern American sport climbing and is host to cutting-edge climbing routes. It is popular for sport climbing, traditional climbing, multi-pitch climbing, and bouldering (source: wikipedia).

We had been here once before without much planning and got bamboozled by the morning light. It all has to do with the crooked river that snakes through the valley. During both sunset and sunrise, the sun will be behind massive rock formations and hence light can be tricky here. Last time we were here, the clouds were on the opposite side of the rock formations and all the color and texture were on the opposite side. Thankfully this time the cloud cover was much more uniform.

I took over 80 shots of this waterfall today. I narrowed it down to two I like. If you viewers would let me know your opinion as to the strongest I would be grateful.

Downing Creek Falls is the second of at least three significant waterfalls known to occur along the stout length of spring-fueled Downing Creek. The falls drop 32 feet over a distinctly cube-shaped outcrop of basalt, pouring in three to four side-by-side channels (depending on how much extra snow melt water is present), with as many as a dozen small streams of water dribbling out of the adjacent cliff and falling parallel to the falls in tandem. Though the falls aren't terribly tall, the creek is large enough to produced a consistent cloud of mist at the base of the falls, which helps ensure the forest and cliffs all around the falls are liberally covered head to toe in a thick blanket of moss.

Downing Creek is a remarkably consistent stream with a deceivingly small drainage basin. The majority of the creek emerges from springs about one quarter mile upstream from the falls, and flows all year long with very little fluctuation as a result. Further upstream along the drainage is another waterfall which only flows during periods of prolonged snow melt in the spring months, but the upper section of the creek otherwise sinks into the porous ground and the upper falls dries out as a result.

Love prefers twilight to daylight...

• Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

One of the best things I like about Oregon is how unassuming some of the most stunning locations are. The first time we visited Oregon, we spend a couple of days in Bend but completely missed the stunning Sparks lake. On our second visit, luckily I saw a billboard for Oregon tourism with sparks lake as the main attraction but in true Oregon fashion, they didn't name the location. Thankfully my google tracking skills were on point and I managed to find this lovely location and we spend a brilliant sunrise there.

This happened with Abiqua Falls as well and we in fact turned back about a mile away from one of the most famous waterfalls in the state because we couldn't figure out the turn to the parking lot. Yup, there was not a single sign, I figured it out a year later and returned to get my pics and was kicking myself for turning around while I was so close. While it was frustrating at the moment, as I look back I really appreciate how these spots still maintain their wildness by not being tourist traps.

View of the lower part of falls.

I added the blue to the fence because it was lost otherwise with white on white.

The Willamette Valley (will-AM-et) is a 150-mile (240 km) long valley in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley, and it is surrounded by mountains on three sides – the Cascade Range to the east, the Oregon Coast Range to the west, and the Calapooya Mountains to the south. It forms the cultural and political heart of Oregon, and is home to approximately 70 percent of its population.

The valley's numerous waterways, particularly the Willamette River, are vital to the economy of Oregon, as they continuously deposit highly fertile alluvial soils across its broad, flat plain. A massively productive agricultural area, the valley was widely publicized in the 1820s as a "promised land of flowing milk and honey". Throughout the 19th century it was the destination of choice for the oxen-drawn wagon trains of emigrants who made the perilous journey along the Oregon Trail.

Today the valley is often considered synonymous with "Oregon Wine Country", as it contains more than 19,000 acres (7,700 ha) of vineyards and 500+ wineries.

The Molalla Indians used the trail in the early 1800's. It is now called the Table Rock Historic Trail. During the 1920's this same trail was utilized by Native Americans from the Warm Springs Reservation to reach traditional huckleberry picking areas near the Molalla River and Table Rock. Table Rock Fork of the Molalla River located near Molalla, Oregon. It is a 5 mile whitewater kayaking & canoeing trail. The Table Rock Fork is a great class three run, very continuous and entertaining. It is something of a mystery to me why this run hasn't gained popularity with local paddlers, but I think this will change as more people start venturing up there and word gets around. Let me say that this is all the information I could find on-line about this part of the river. The above are quotes taken from three different online sources.

Fall colors and leaves changing colors

The Lu San Chines Garden is a walled Chinese garden enclosing a full city block, roughly 40,000 square feet (4,000 m2) in the Chinatown area of the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. The garden is influenced by many of the famous classical gardens in Suzhou.

In 1988 Suzhou, China and Portland became sister cities. The garden was designed by Kuang Zhen and built by 65 artisans from Suzhou on land donated by NW Natural on a 99-year lease; groundbreaking occurred in July 1999, and construction was completed 14 months later at a cost of about $12.8 million. 500 tons of rock, including Chinese scholar's rocks from Lake Tai (Taihu stone), were brought from China and used in the garden.

• Agnes Repplier.

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One more shot of the beautiful fairy falls. For this shot I got in real close and used a longer focal length. I am a big admirer of this particular type of falls as they come our really pretty in photographs and this one is one of my favorites. I wanted a shot emphasizing the details of the moss on the ricks and the flowing water.

Hope everyone likes it, Happy Tuesday!!

If this be not love, it is madness, and then it is pardonable… -William Congreve

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I first visited Oregon couple of years ago on a summer road trip along with my wife. We both enjoyed the state's natural beauty so much that we decided to head back up again this year when we had a chance. Last time we were there we spend a whole day searching for the illusive Abiqua falls but were unlucky in finding it. This time I was better prepared and had an idea about the approximate location of the trailhead. Plus we were lucky that we met some locals who directed us to the exact start point of the trail.

The trail is completely located within private property but the owners had allowed nature lovers to explore the area, which was totally awesome and I hope everyone to venture to this trail respect the instructions posted. You basically can drive up until you see a white metal fence blocking the road and the trail to the falls start to the left of the road. Once you start the hike, the trail immediately divides into three different paths and the left most one seems to be the shortest and the easiest. So that’s basically my tips for this hike, also make sure good hiking boots and some food as this hike is a bit hard without those.

• Saul Bellow.

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One of the most interesting things about nature photography is seeing nature’s wonders at its best possible lighting. This is one of those images I made of Mt Hood from Lost Lake, framing wise id did nothing just basically pointed the camera at the mountain at shot the image.

The interestingness in this image is the light and I had nothing to do with it other than capture it with a camera and my wife who shot the same image with an iPhone managed to get an exceptionally great picture too, so it’s not about the camera or post processing. It’s all about finding a good view and sticking with it until nature begins the show.

Hope you all like it have a nice day..

Also known as Ponytail Falls, in the Columbia river gorge, Oregon.

Many thanks to Gary Randall for taking me there.

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McDowell Creek Park

I actually had stopped to check my map, I looked up from my parking spot and saw this steam just tucked back up in the woods. A short walk and I found this vantage point. A completely unexpected find and now one of my favorite images of the year.

Olallie Creek is located in the midsection of the Cascades mountain range in western Oregon. The area is nicely shaded by Douglas fir, maple and alder. The Willamette National Forest stretches for 110 miles with varied landscapes of high mountains, narrow canyons, cascading streams, and wooded slopes. This creek sits right beside the McKenzie River and the McKenzie River Trail.

Olallie is a very popular name in Oregon. There are several Olallie areas, from this creek, to a nice lake, not associated with this creek to a nice hiking trail, not associated with creek or lake.

I took over 80 shots of this waterfall today. I narrowed it down to two I like. If you viewers would let me know your opinion as to the strongest I would be grateful.

Downing Creek Falls is the second of at least three significant waterfalls known to occur along the stout length of spring-fueled Downing Creek. The falls drop 32 feet over a distinctly cube-shaped outcrop of basalt, pouring in three to four side-by-side channels (depending on how much extra snow melt water is present), with as many as a dozen small streams of water dribbling out of the adjacent cliff and falling parallel to the falls in tandem. Though the falls aren't terribly tall, the creek is large enough to produced a consistent cloud of mist at the base of the falls, which helps ensure the forest and cliffs all around the falls are liberally covered head to toe in a thick blanket of moss.

Downing Creek is a remarkably consistent stream with a deceivingly small drainage basin. The majority of the creek emerges from springs about one quarter mile upstream from the falls, and flows all year long with very little fluctuation as a result. Further upstream along the drainage is another waterfall which only flows during periods of prolonged snow melt in the spring months, but the upper section of the creek otherwise sinks into the porous ground and the upper falls dries out as a result.

Lost Lake is a lake in Mount Hood National Forest. We have to identify it as the one in Hood River County because we have more than one Lost Lake here in Oregon.

The lake is bounded on the east by 4,468-foot (1,362 m) Lost Lake Butte and on the southwest by 4,556-foot (1,389 m) Preachers Peak. The lake is fed by three unnamed intermittent creeks from Lost Lake Butte, and Inlet Creek from Preachers Peak. The lake maintains a very consistent level via an outlet at the north tip, the source of Lake Branch Hood River, a tributary of West Fork Hood River. It is the second-deepest lake in Mount Hood National Forest after Wahtum Lake at 167 feet (51 m).

Lake Billy Chinook is a reservoir in Jefferson County, Oregon. Created by the Round Butte Dam in 1964, Lake Billy Chinook lies in a canyon at the confluence of the Crooked, Deschutes (da - SHOOTS) , and Metolius (ma TOLE ee us) rivers near Culver and Madras. It was named for Billy Chinook, a Native American of the Wasco tribe who traveled alongside American explorers John C. Frémont and Kit Carson in their expeditions of 1843 and 1844.

From this area you can see the prominent mountains of the Oregon Cascades in the distance.