Next stop: Oregon!
Some thoughts and photos from a late summer trip to Oregon, as well as some upcoming plans for a return visit.
We are heading back to Oregon, where we will spend the week of Thanksgiving. I’m so excited!
I have loved Oregon since my first visit, which was back in 2001. Since then, I have been probably 10 times, maybe more. Some business, some pleasure - but it’s always enjoyable, camera or not. This time, I will be taking a camera and will get some time to photograph Portland as well as along the coast a bit.
I’m really looking forward to spending some time walking the streets of Portland with my camera. Despite many visits, I’ve never really had much time to photograph the city. Then after that I will be along the coast, where I have taken a LOT of photos - and of course I will be getting more on this trip. The Oregon coastline is my favorite place in the US - it’s just so beautiful and peaceful there. Oh, and it’s photogenic too, of course.
Today’s post contains a number of shots I captured on my last visit to the Oregon coast, which was back in August of this year. I’m not sure if I will get the same vibrant and beautiful light on this trip, since I haven’t been there during this time of year before. But of course I am hopeful. And regardless, it’s beautiful even if it’s a bit drab and overcast. I will find out soon enough!
Sunset next to Haystack Rock, at Cannon Beach
This was sunrise one morning - so glad I got up!
Lovely light to end another day on Cannon Beach
Haystack Rock
Haystack Rock, on the beach in Cannon Beach, OR…
I have so many pictures from Cannon Beach, Oregon. I’ve been lucky enough to visit a few times, because this part of Oregon may be my favorite place in the US. It’s just so beautiful and there is something about being next to the Pacific Ocean, with these amazing sea stacks dotted along the coastline. It’s hard to get anything else done, because I just want to be out with my camera all day!
Haystack Rock sunset
A lovely sunset at Haystack Rock, in Cannon Beach, Oregon…
I absolutely adore Cannon Beach, Oregon - even though it’s a touristy little town. It still has a hold over me. Part of it is the quaint and small nature of it, and the bigger more obvious part is the incredible natural scenery that lies just a stone’s throw from their main street. The beauty is Haystack Rock, and it’s the subject of many of my photos over the course of my multiple visits to the area. In this shot, I went for a long exposure using my 10 stop filter, shooting pretty much straight into the sun. I wasn’t sure if it would result in an image worth keeping, but I’m pretty happy with the result!
Last light in Oregon
Lovely last light along the Oregon coast…
I absolutely adore Oregon, it is my favorite state in the US. It’s just so beautiful, and in particular the coast around Cannon Beach is just stunning. I have shot there many times, and hope to shoot it many more times in the future. It never gets old.
Golden hour at Haystack Rock
A long exposure late one afternoon along the Oregon coast…
Ah, the beauty of the Oregon coast!
I so love the coastline of Oregon - it's my favorite spot in the US. I've visited the little town of Cannon Beach so many times that I have lost count, and of course that also means that I have a TON of photos of Haystack Rock. How can you NOT photograph that thing??
This photo is from our last visit there, which was last summer (sadly, coming up on a year now). We spent about 10 days in this area and I was snapping away quite happily. One afternoon I decided to try something a little different though, and went with a long exposure using my 10 stop filter. Using that filter allowed me to really drag the shutter here, getting a total exposure time on this one of 34 seconds.
This also gave me the benefit of those streaking clouds and that silky smooth water, two things that I love capturing when using filters like the 10 stop. If you don't have a set, give it a try, it's quite fun!
Drone footage: Haystack Rock sunset
Here's my first published drone video, from a lovely sunset last week in Oregon. Enjoy!
I've been enjoying my drone quite a bit, and starting to learn how to better take and edit video with this addicting little machine of awesomeness. It's been fun. Here's my first "creation", if you will, which is a 20 second snippet of video from a lovely sunset I shot in Oregon last week.
I inadvertently left the audio on when I was flying, and there was a guy on the beach asking me a bunch of questions about my drone, so when I watched the footage I heard that conversation all over again! Easily enough though I was able to pull the audio out of it and instead I added in a musical clip from Cirque du Soleil, a song I love called "Alegria". I really enjoyed creating this video, with the music, so I think I will make more of these. Enjoy!
Those Oregon sunsets
A trio of stunning sunset shots from one of my favorite places in the world - the Oregon coast. Have a look and enjoy!
Sunsets along the Oregon coastline are beautiful.
I absolutely love Oregon, and was lucky enough to spend a chunk of last summer up there, enjoying the beauty and escaping the stifling heat and humidity of Austin. Knowing that I would be there a while, I had hoped I could capture at least a few gorgeous sunsets.
Thankfully, Mother Nature saw to it, and I got more than my fair share of them. I came home with something like 9,000 photos from that trip, and am still going through them all. But I did finally get into my Lightroom library recently and processed a few from a couple of different sunsets there. I'm dying to process more, after doing these. So much beauty!
These were all captured in Cannon Beach, Oregon, which is a beautiful little town sitting on perhaps the most scenic beach anywhere. I'm a huge fan of rocky beaches (I'm not a tropical-beach kind of guy) and it's hard to compete with Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach. That thing is a BEAST!
Thanks for stopping by today!
Golden hour at Haystack Rock
I caught an incredible golden hour recently at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, Oregon. It was one of those times when everything just worked out perfectly. Here are 10 photos that prove it!
There's just something about Haystack Rock!
I love coastal Oregon, and while I often aim to discover new places, there are some that are so awe-inspiring that it's hard not to return. Haystack Rock is just such a place. This massive monolith sits on the beach in the little town of Cannon Beach, Oregon and it draws quite a crowd, especially in summer.
We recently spent several weeks in the area, and I made it a point to get here a few times and grab some shots. My hope of course is always to get a nice golden hour, sunset, or blue hour (or ideally, all three) but you can never really predict these things. You can hope, and based on what you see in the sky you can certainly get your hopes up, but you can never accurately guess whether it will turn out nice or not.
So one afternoon we headed over there hoping for great light. There had been some decent clouds all day, and I had my fingers crossed. As you can see, when golden hour arrived, it really started to come together.
I was getting pretty excited and ran around firing all sorts of shots from various angles. It was also close to low tide, which in my opinion is the best time to shoot on the Oregon beaches, because of all the rock there. The receding tide leaves behind all sorts of little pools, which you can use in your photographs to draw the eye.
So that's exactly what I did with some of today's shots. These long sections of water were lined up just about perfectly, and I fired away with them in the foreground as a leading line. The funny thing to me is that I was the only one really doing that. I just assume everyone would shoot this way, but it was just me - which was totally fine by me of course! I would rather have it all to myself anyways. Nearly all the other photographers were clustered either down close to the rock itself, or on the other side of the rock (further south down the beach - I shot from there for sunset, and it's a very popular spot).
I hope you enjoy this collection of photos from that day. And yes, I stuck around for both sunset and blue hour, and OMG it was marvelous. I just need to work on those pics and get them ready, so that will be another time.
Thanks for stopping by today!
The monolithic Haystack Rock
Have you been to Cannon Beach, Oregon yet? You should go!
I love Oregon, at least all the parts of it that I have seen, and I've seen a pretty good amount of it. On my first trip there years ago, my wife and I spent a couple of days in the seaside town of Cannon Beach and really enjoyed it.
So recently when we planned our family trip out to Oregon, we made sure to include a stop in Cannon Beach on the itinerary. It's not a large town by any means, and is mostly famous as the site of Haystock Rock, which you see in all the photos here in this post.
As is pretty evident, this is one huge chunk of rock. The cool thing to me is that it is pretty close to the beach, and when the tide is out you can actually walk out to it and explore the tide pools around it. Note however that climbing onto the rock is strictly off-limits.
I suspect that has to do with the inherent dangers and liability of people falling or jumping, not to mention that the rock is home to lots of seabirds, including puffins. Sadly, the puffin season did not coincide with my visit. <sad face>
Nonetheless, the tide pools are quite fun to walk around and explore. We saw all sorts of sea anemones and little fish swimming around and it's a great way to spend some free time. Besides, how often can you get up close with that sort of stuff? Coming from Texas, my answer is never. :-)
And being the photography-lover that I am, of course I took all sorts of shots of Haystack Rock. Really, how can you not? You pretty much have to take some shots when you see it, as it dominates the beach, and frankly I find it rather photogenic.
I love trying to capture some reflections in the surf, and luckily on the afternoon that I took these shots the beach was pretty empty, which is rare. We were there for Spring Break (mid-March) and the entire area was pretty quiet. Big win in my opinion.
There are also a couple of smaller rocks nearby, somewhat adjacent to Haystack Rock, and they are known as "The Needles". I think by backing up and including them in the shot, you get a nice balance in your composition, but that's just personal preference.
The truth is that regardless of where you shoot it from, it's a compelling subject, especially under the beautiful seaside skies there. One great thing about the coast - there always seem to be clouds rolling in, and I love having clouds in my photos!
All of these photos are HDR's that were created in Photomatix, with further adjustments made in Color Efex Pro and Aperture (my normal workflow). After creating the shots in Photomatix, I used a couple of filters in Color Efex Pro, namely Detail Extractor (applied selectively), Pro Contrast, Brilliance/Warmth, and a little touch of Glamour Glow. I find these filters help the photo "pop" a bit, and help me bring them to life, more closely resembling what I saw while standing there on the beach. Also, all of these were shot handheld, as I left my tripod in the car while we walked out there. :-) It worked out pretty well though, and usually does as long as I am not shooting in low light.
I hope you enjoyed today's little photo tour of Haystack Rock!
Golden Hour at Haystack Rock
Blue hour at Haystack Rock
Some places just steal your heart, and Cannon Beach along the Oregon Coast is one of them for me. You just can't deny the incredible beauty of the coastline here, and no spots are more well-known around here than Haystack Rock.
Haystack Rock is a 235 foot tall monolith which, as you can see pretty plainly here, is just a short stroll from the beach (though access onto it is not permitted). We shot there all through sunset, into golden hour and blue hour, and eventually late into the night where we watched the Perseid meteor shower and shot star trails.
In short, it was freaking incredible!