Oregon Landscape Photography

A highway gives the viewer a sense of adventure and the “open road” when it is included in the photo.  Trails, roads, and highways are a common theme throughout all of my photography galleries.  This road shot is the highway going up to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, photographed in early May.

Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park, photographed on a cold, snow filled day in early May.

This photograph was captured on a cold day at Cannon Beach on the Oregon coast

Oregon is a state filled with Waterfalls.  This is Horsetail Falls, located along the Columbia River Gorge

Latourell Falls, Columbia River Gorge.  The best time to photograph waterfalls are on an overcast day without any wind.  A slow shutter speed adds motion to the photograph.

Multnomah Falls in Columbia River Gorge is a great place to photograph!

It is easy to spend days hiking through more than 24 miles of hiking trails photographing all the waterfalls of Silver Falls State Park.

Another waterfall from the road trip to Silver Falls State Park.  A slow shutter speed makes the water look like cotton candy!

When I was composing this photograph at Latourell Waterfalls in Columbia River Gorge, this couple walks on by, crosses the bridge and admires the waterfalls.   People add a sense of scale to the photograph.

A bridge crosses a small creek in Silver Falls State Park.  The trails were well groomed and made for easy hiking considering all the heavy camera gear I had to carry.

When you travel, it is important to ask the locals about locations they like to go to.  This photograph involved hiking about 4 miles.  I was just about ready to turn back when this view appeared!

A 25 minute time lapse photograph captures the movement of the clouds.  During the 25 minute time lapse, I “light painted” the lighthouse with a 1,000,000 candlepower Maglite Flashlight (about 1 minute for the light painting portion).  The local police noticed that someone was shining a flashlight all over the place and came to investigate.  They ended up staying about half hour to see the final image the camera captured.

Early morning light and flowers light up Yaquina Head Lighthouse on the Oregon Coast.  What started out to be “just a drive by” ended up to be a two hour photography shoot, including photographing rocks and tide pools along the beach.

This is the wreck of the Peter Iredale at low tide, located at Warrenton on the Oregon Coast.   I was the only person here the first time I visited the wreck many years ago.  This time, there is a huge parking lot, plus tons of people.

One lone person is watching the sun set at Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast.  The day was hot and sunny.  As evening approached, the weather got windy and colder, the rain started just minutes after this photograph was taken.

As soon as I saw the surfer girl run into the water, it immediately reminded me of the song “Surfer Girl” by the Beach Boys.   This photograph was captured at Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast

The Painted Hills are listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Oregon. Painted Hills is named after the colorful layers of its hills corresponding to various geological eras, formed when the area was an ancient river floodplain. The black soil is lignite that was vegetative matter that grew along the floodplain.

Painted Hills, Oregon

I wanted to capture the iconic image of Heceta Head Lighthouse from the overlook point along Oregon Coast Highway 101.  When I got to the location, it was very foggy and a person could not even see the Lighthouse.  Road shots remind a person of the open highway and a sense of adventure.

A relatively moderate/easy hike takes a person from the parking lot down to Bridal Veil Falls.  There are quite a few vantage points to take incredible photographs of this waterfall along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon.  Set your camera on a tripod, use a cable release (or timer), and a slow shutter speed will show a sense of motion.

Bridal Veil Falls on the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon.  Oregon is definitely the place to go if you like to photograph waterfalls.   A person adds scale to a photograph.  In the case, that person is ME!  I climbed up on the rock and had a buddy take a photograph of me.  The waterfall was very noisy, so we had to communicate using hand signals.

Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge.  There were so many people at the main parking area, I had to bypass it, drive down the Interstate a bit to that parking area, then hike back up (only a few minutes)

I was hoping for a great sunset with underlit clouds when I arrived at Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, on the Oregon Coast.   The day went from hot and sunny, to windy and cold.   Just minutes after this photograph of Haystack Rock, the rain came and photography time was finished.