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!
Catching sunset in Carmel
A stunning sunset in Carmel, CA - an incredibly quaint and beautiful spot in northern CA!
I do love to visit Carmel, CA! Such a great spot for a sunset!
Have you been to Carmel before? It's a lovely little village - yes, I would call it a village - down by the sea a bit south of San Jose, CA. It's super expensive but so quaint, beautiful and quite fun to visit. I have been several times and really never tire of it.
On our crazy-long road trip last summer, we passed through there for a couple of nights, which means of course that I was on the beach firing away at the sunset on one of those nights. Luckily, I picked the right one (our first night there) because it was gorgeous, while the second night the sunset was not that great. Hey, sometimes you guess right and get lucky!
So I strolled downhill to the beach and basically hung out for a while, firing away and chatting with others that were there. Of course some folks asked me to take their picture - I obliged, naturally - and otherwise I stood around enjoying nature's bounty with a lot of strangers. Good times, really!
Those crazy Oregon sunsets
A sunset that goes down in the record books for me...from Bandon, Oregon
A stunning display of color and light in Bandon, Oregon
I absolutely love Oregon, and specifically the coastal towns that offers such incredible vistas. Luckily, I've also had my share of incredible sunsets there, too, such as this one from Bandon. Bandon is a very small town far along the southern coast, but it's well worth a visit for the incredible scenery along the beach in the area. There are these massive sea stacks here and there and you can literally wander for hours exploring and photographing them. So awesome!
Last light in La Jolla
A lovely sunset along the coast in La Jolla, CA...
I sure love photographing the Pacific!
When I was in San Diego recently, I wanted to get out and shoot at least one sunset along the coastline. So I connected with my friend Scott Davenport and we met up and headed out. Scott is a local photographer and workshop leader and knows this area really well. He choose this spot and it was a real winner!
La Jolla is a little town just north of San Diego and the coastline there is just incredible. There are all sorts of interesting rock formations and some tide pools as well. It was excellent!
This is a single 25 second exposure, which accounts for the smooth water. Edits were made in Luminar by Macphun, which you really need to try out if you haven't yet!
Twilight in Bandon
Catching a seascape in Bandon, Oregon one evening, just around sunset when the light gets all moody and interesting...
Such an incredible coastline!
Last summer on our epic roadtrip we stopped for 2 nights in Bandon, Oregon. We were en route to the more well-known Cannon Beach, Oregon area but I had seen many pics online of the coastline at Bandon, and wanted to check it out. We stayed two night in hopes I would get at least one good sunset out of it.
I got two!
Yep, I lucked into 2 great sunsets. The first one was gorgeous, and I knew that even if the next night was terrible, at least I would have some good shots. But then the sunset on the second night was just off the charts, so I really did leave Bandon a happy man.
If you want to see a collection of shots from that night, you might want to read this blog post.
Today's photo is a single exposure from that second night, edited in Aurora HDR. I use Aurora all the time for editing single exposures. In this case, I took a set of brackets, but I thought this single shot worked just as well, so I went with it.
Sunset at Hug Point
I love Oregon - there is just so much beauty there. It's almost hard to digest it all. It seems at every turn, there is something else more beautiful than what you just saw. I spent some time there recently, and one evening a beach walk turned into a full-on sunset adventure. Here are 15 photos that show you just how beautiful that evening really was!
I caught a pretty excellent sunset recently in Oregon!
Man, I love Oregon. It's gorgeous. Have you been? If not, you should plan to go, unless you hate Nature or have a thing against amazing coastlines and fabulous light. Then I guess stay home, but otherwise get yourself out to Oregon STAT. What a place!
As I wrote here before, I have been on a Western-US road trip with the family for a while now. We left Austin back in late June, and about the time this post goes live on Monday, Aug 17 (I wrote this about 10 days ago and scheduled the post to go live today, since I knew I would be on the road), we will be back in Texas and getting close to home. It's been an amazing 7 weeks on the road. We've all enjoyed ourselves immensely.
And I hope to write up a full summary of the trip later to share here. In the meantime, on to that sunset I was referring to above...
Hug Point is a small state park on the Oregon coast just south of Cannon Beach. At first glance, it looks like a lot of the other coastal parks there - a beach and a few sea stacks in the surf. But if you explore a little around the northern end (and the tide is low enough), you can actually walk onto a completely separate section of beach where you will find some sea caves and a little waterfall coming out of the woods and down onto the beach.
It's pretty stellar, and well worth a visit.
We spent a few weeks in the area, so I visited Hug Point on several occasions. I had been once before and loved it, so when we planned this trip I made a point to get here a few times in hopes of capturing a nice sunset.
I got one.
The funny thing was that we were just out walking along the beach, hanging with the dog and just relaxing, and all I had was just the camera and a single lens (no tripod, no other equipment with me). It was one of those times that you just can't tell what's going to happen with the light, so you pack light and hope it works out.
I figured it was going to just stay overcast, but then the sun really started to make itself known, and there I was, smiling and firing away handheld. Thankfully it all worked out. While I prefer to have the steadiness of a tripod, I'm not above just taking the shots when the scene presents itself. Heck, it will never be the same again, right?
Well that's it for today friends - thanks for visiting and if you get a chance to go to Oregon - GO!
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!
Exploring a sea cave on the Oregon coast
How about 3 photos from the Oregon coast, on a day I went exploring a sea cave? Sound fun? Come check it out!
I'm a pretty curious photographer - you?
When I am out shooting, I find it impossible to resist looking around a corner, or down an alley, things like that. I just HAVE to know what is around the bend, because it's very possibly something that I will want to shoot. Are you like that?
When I was with the family out in Oregon in March of this year, we spent some time at various spots along the northern coast, sort of around the town of Cannon Beach, in case that gives you an idea of the area.
Anyways, one afternoon we opted to check out Hug Point, and so off we went. You never really know what you are going to find. In this case, we found a LOT, and it was all awesome. I just love that area. It's so incredibly gorgeous.
As I was walking along the beach, once again curiosity won out and I waited for the tide to recede a bit so I could walk around a rock outcropping. I just had to see what was beyond it. You're with me right?
Well, I found a sea cave, and yes it was just as awesome as it sounds. I dig this kind of stuff. I loved the movie The Goonies, and this just felt like I was in the dang movie. It was all kinds of awesome. So I shot the cave, I went in the cave and shot outward, and I climbed around and shot some more.
A good way to spend an afternoon, really!
And I know you are curious too - and I suspect you are thinking about pirate treasure, right? Sorry, but I didn't find any of that. Maybe next time!
Hug Point
Waterfalls and sea caves and beaches, oh my!
Have you ever seen The Goonies? It's a great little movie from the 80's about some kids who end up searching for pirate treasure. It's awesome. I absolutely love that movie. They go on a grand adventure, end up in sea caves along the coast, and generally do all the things I wished for as a kid.
It was all filmed in the northern Oregon area, around the town of Astoria and along the coastline near Cannon Beach. Whenever I am in the Cannon Beach area, that movie is on my mind in a big way.
My first shot of this gorgeous scene! I loved this place!
I was first here years ago, returned about 2 years ago with some buddies on a photo trip, and most recently was here back in March. Surprisingly, this was the first time I had ever heard of Hug Point. I'm still apologizing to myself for that! Look at what I had been missing!
This park (or State Recreation Area, to be exact) is not large but it packs in a lot of awesomeness. Just drive south of Cannon Beach for a few minutes, and the parking lot is right off the road. A short walk gets you to the beach. I recommend going right when you get to the beach, and walk around the large rock outcropping you will see there. Hopefully you are there at low tide, or else it may not be passable. I got lucky in that regard, as I never thought about it or checked the tide tables.
A closeup of the waterfall and caves. Yes, I went in the caves, but no treasure, darn it!
Once you get around that bend, you are confronted with the scene that I am showing you today. I didn't see much about this online, and when I arrived I just took a guess and went to the right. Fortunately the tide was out and I could walk around the bend a ways. When I saw this, I starting screaming! Thankfully we were the only ones there. :-) I sounded like a schoolgirl, I'm sure. I was as giddy as one, that's for certain!
I just love stuff like this. It makes me want to be a kid again, and wish I was in a pirate-treasure-hunting movie too! Doesn't that sound fun?
Be honest - don't you want to go see this?
A little wider than the 1st shot, showing more of the waterfalll.
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!
It's sunny in Hawaii
Ok, I am not currently in Hawaii, but I suspect that statement is true.
It's cold here in Austin, and it's REALLY COLD in a lot of the rest of the US. We have the whole polar vortex thing going on, whatever the heck that is. Sounds to me like a hole in the space-time continuum...and Santa is going to fly through it. Certainly makes me think of Back To The Future. "It's the flux capacitor, Marty"!
Anyways, hope you are warm and comfortable, wherever you are. Unless you want to be cold, in which case I wish that for you. You know what I'm saying. Be good people, and thanks for stopping by.
BTW, this was taken on Maui, which is a place that totally kicks a$$. I'm shutting up now, because this isn't going anywhere. :-)
Sunrise on the Texas gulf coast
As you may know if you follow my page on Facebook, I recently spent some time down along the Texas coast for a little end of summer family getaway. It’s something we have been doing for a few years, and always enjoy it. It’s a nice way to kiss summer goodbye before the madness of school begins.
Each morning when I got up, I of course had to look outside at the skies and see if sunrise was going to produce anything exciting for me. In fact it did on two separate mornings. I guess I have good sunrise karma.
On this particular morning, several of us walked down to the beach to enjoy this lovely site. Being a little twitchy, I walked a bit faster so as to get there quickly. Once you miss the light, it’s gone, as you know. And this is one I didn’t want to miss!
Point Lobos seascape
I was in San Jose, CA for 1 night last week, and that’s torture. Not because 1 night business trips are hard - well, they can be but that’s not it. And it has nothing to do with San Jose...I like that town. The reason it’s torture is because San Jose is SOOOOO close to Carmel, CA....and Carmel is a dream. And I could not get there. Hence, the torture part.
I love Carmel and do hope to return again...sooner rather than later of course! We spent about a week there a while back, and I still have a lot of pics to share from that trip. I suppose I will never catch up, but that’s half the fun of it. I go through my library and come across shots I love from places I adore...and it takes me back.
This is from Point Lobos which is a short drive south of Carmel. Everything there is beautiful. You should go.
Agape at Ecola
I just love the Oregon coast. What an incredibly beautiful place. I grabbed this shot from Ecola State Park. I had set up and was shooting down the coast, taking in the expansive view all the way to Haystack Rock, when I noticed that there was an incredible view just under my nose, so to speak. I tilted the tripod and fired down at this scene. I love the texture of the water on the sand and all the beautiful colors.
Do you focus on the big stuff only?
That’s one thing I am guilty of in my photographic wanderings. I am sometimes standing there agape at the big beautiful scene before me, and I neglect to catch all the little scenes that make up the big one. It’s hard to take it all in really, especially when it’s a new place. I am working to not fall into that familiar trap of shooting the big scene and moving on. Taking it slow and paying attention to the details can pay off just as well!
The Oregon coast
The world has a lot of beautiful places, and the Oregon Coast ranks right up there in my book as one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. I was visiting that area this past August with some fabulous photographers and friends, and we had a great time firing shots at nearly everything we saw. It was a lot of work, but we got it done. :-)
This is the view from Ecola State Park, looking south along the coast at a secluded cove, towards Cannon Beach. Isn't this place awesome?