Oregon Trail

Isn't it amazing? You can start your day in the desert and finish it off in the rain forest. A twelve hour drive will take you from Logan Utah to Portland Oregon. That's what I call the Oregon Trail.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm, f.8, five frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 20mm, f/8, 9 frame HDR, ISO 100.

Resolutions

It's that time when we all look back on the year and make plans to do things better. We resolve that things will change. We resolve that we will change. And things will be better. All my pants will fit better.

Well, I don't know about weight loss resolutions, but I'm definitely resolved to return to this location and make pictures again.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @24mm, f/5.6, 1/320s, ISO 800, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

This is at Haceta Head in Oregon. The surf is crashing behind me, and fog is swirling about the cliffs to my left and right. The most picturesque lighthouse on the west coast is to my left...covered base to roof in flapping black tarps for renovation. That's one of the things I want to photograph when I return--sans tarps, of course.

But I'd like to explore this bridge again, too. I love the bridges in Oregon. I feel like they are all of a theme. Plus, they're always spanning these wonderful places. Just up the road to the North is a spot called Cape Perpetua that I'd also like to re-explore. To the south is the Sea Lion Cave.

I was there this day in September to photograph a wedding, and it was spectacular. Anyone else getting married? I know a great spot. Need a photog?

The Road Already Travelled

In Frost's famous poem, the speaker chooses which fork to take as a road diverges in the forest. He/she weighs the advantages of both, and ends up choosing one and finds that the choosing is the most important thing, not which road was taken. I notice that there's no mention of turning around to look back down the road from which he/she came--no thought of going back. That's significant, too.

If one did look back, it might look like this.

I made this image at Perpetua Point on the Oregon Coast yesterday. The fog was fickle, playing in and out and teasing my light meter mercilessly. Nonetheless, I like the feel of this image, and I think it looks like everything I like about the Coast: small roads winding through the hills, fog dodging in and out, and the ever intense greenyness filling my vision. I was fortunate enough to walk both branches of this fork without the choosing: it's a turn around atop the hill.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm, f/5.6, 1/80s, ISO 100.