PHOTOGRAPHING THE OREGON COAST JUNE 11, 2017

JUNE 11^TH – BANDON AND ONTO PISTOL RIVER

This morning we went of to the Face Rock area of Bandon Beach. We had a little color, and worked at creating interesting compositions with rock foregrounds. 

DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT

EARLY MORNING ON THE BEACH

MORNING SKY (B&W)

As the sun emerged and I walked along the beach I discovered sea stars and anemones clinging to some of the formations. They were some distance away but with a 300mm lens I was able to bring them into better view. It was good to have some light and broken clouds to work with.

SEA LIFE

MUSSELS, SEA STARS, & ANEMONE

BEACH, SEA STACK AND SEA LIFE

SEA STARS

BEACH SCENE

After returning to our abode we packed our gear and loaded the cars for our drive South to the Gold Beach/Brookings area. Before leaving Bandon we stopped to photograph Coquille River Lighthouse.  It is at the mouth of the Coquille River and is surrounded by lovely yellow lupine. 

COQUILLE RIVER LIGHTHOUSE

 We proceeded South with a stop at Cape Blanco Lighthouse, North of Port Orford. 

CAPE BLANCO LIGHTHOUSE

We took in the tour here and were able to actually visit the top of the structure where the light is situated. This is the oldest standing lighthouse on the Oregon coast and is located on the western most point in Oregon.

We all enjoyed a stop at Gold Beach, the mouth of the Rogue River. We photographed the wreck of the Mary D Hume which has been slowly decaying since 1985. Mother nature is slowly reclaiming it. I first saw and photographed it on my Oregon Coast Bike Ride in 1993.

PATTERSON BRIDGE, ROGUE RIVER

WRECK OF MARY D HUME

After settling in at our house in the Pistol River area, we went to dinner at the Golden Dragon for Chinese food. 

A HOME WITH A VIEW

RHODODENDRON BLOSSOMS

Then we went to Harris Beach for sunset time. We had some late afternoon sunlight shining through a break in the clouds which was very nice to see and photograph. Again I played with slow shutter speeds which gave mixed results regarding the movement of the surf. Still I was happy with some of the results.

HARRIS BEACH

HARRIS BEACH SUNSET

PHOTOGRAPHING THE OREGON COAST - JUNE 10, 2017

JUNE 10^TH – BANDON

This morning did not start out well for the RavenMaven. In my haste to get out to the car, I tripped over my own camera gear! The result was a bruised knee for the rest of the trip which was a pain and slowed me down quite a bit. I guess the good thing was that I tripped over my camera gear rather than tripping while carrying my camera gear!!

MORNING LIGHT AND SEA STACKS

ROCK "FISH"

SEA STACK PILLAR

We got rained out for sunrise though we had a few minutes with light peeking through a small break in the clouds. After breakfast. we went to visit the West Coast Game Park to interact with baby animals that were on display. (No photographs, sorry that you will not see these cubs, etc. being cuddled by the public.) Along the way we stopped at a roadside business for saltwater taffy and a couple of varieties of jams. I did purchase a small jar of marionberry jam, as well as dark chocolate covered blueberries.

A midafternoon treat as we headed for Shore Acres State Park was a stop at the Face Rock Creamery where taste tested their cheeses, and then enjoyed a delicious ice cream cone. It was time to return to shore Acres State Park where I was able to borrow a 10 stop Neutral Density Filter and shoot the surf and see the effects of having a shutter speed of about 30 seconds to a minute. It certainly creates a different effect which I will explore a bit more. I think it works better earlier or later in the day when you get a very placid feel to the image, and not the mid-day light.

 

SHORE ACRES SHORE LINE

 We returned to the Charleston Shipyard for some more time photographing boats that had seen better days on the water.  

 

OLD KNOTTING

PROPELLER

FISHING NETS

Late in the afternoon we returned to the Lord Bennett Restaurant for a delightful dinner with great views to the West. Afterwards we once again returned to Bandon Beach for an evening photo shoot. The clouds prevailed but there were a few hints of some color. Maybe tomorrow will be better. 

STORMY EVENING

WITCH'S HAT

A THREATENING SKY

PHOTOGRAPHING THE OREGON COAST - JUNE 9, 2017

JUNE 9^TH – BANDON, OR

Today’s breakfast was at the Minute Café in Bandon. Afterwards we headed North to the Charleston Coos Bay areas in search of photo opportunities. One of our first stops was to photograph Cape Arago Lighthouse located on the South side of the entrance to Coos Bay. We also had the opportunity to see and photograph from quite a distance, sea lions hauled out on a small outcropping as well as a large colony  beached in a small cove located in Simpson Reef. 

Cape Arago Lighthouse

Beached Sea Lions

Mom and  Pup

We then traveled to Shore Acres State Park and Botanical Gardens. A number of us got hooked with the ocean views and capturing the surf action and never made it to the Botantical Garden.

Rugged Shore

Shore Detail

Flowing Surf

A Burst of Surf

One of objects was to photograph the surf with a very slow shutter speed. As the sun was out and it was mid-day, I was not able to get the needed really slow shutter speed. I ended up with some interesting effects, most of which I really did not like. Some of the surf was taken at 1/20^th to 1/30^th of a second. These created an interesting sense of the wave action. I also liked the faster shutter speeds which stopped the wave action completely. The walk along the cliff showed some interesting formations which seemed out of place.

Shore Sculpture

A Beaver?

Rock Art

 

A Patch of Iris

Surf Blast

Tree Roots

On our way back to Bandon we stopped for a short time at the Charleston Shipyard to explore for some more photo fun tomorrow when we would have more time.

Decaying

Not Sea Worthy

Barnacles and Propeller

Lines and Hull

Dinner tonight was pizza which we enjoyed at one of our beach houses. It was very relaxing to chat outside of a restaurant setting.

We went off to sunset but no sooner did we get to the beach and start setting up, a rain squall arrived and we headed back to our vehicles, and on home.

PHOTOGRAPHING THE OREGON COAST - JUNE 8, 2017

JUNE 8^th -  BANDON, OR

As we had some rain overnight and it was still heavily overcast, we did not go out early this morning. We once again enjoyed breakfast at the Pig and Pancake (No, I could not resist another Crab Benedict!) We then headed South to Bandon, OR where we stayed in the area for three nights.

We stopped at Cape Perpetua which is South of Waldport. . Cape Perpetua rises to over 800 feet (240 m) above sea level. 
 

CAPE PERPETUA

From its crest, an observer can see 70 miles (110 km) of Oregon coastline and as far as 37 miles (60 km) out to sea on a clear day.  It was named by Captain Cook as he searched for the entrance to the Northwest Passage. Here we observed and photographed Thor’s Well from a short distance. 

THOR'S WELL

The well is a large hole on the edge of the shore line which fills and empties as the surf goes in and out. We were not there for the highest tide activity but it was still fun to watch.  

PHOTOGRAPHERS AND SURF

A BIG SPLASH

ONE OF MANY BRIDGES ON THE COAST

 Further South we stopped at the highway overlook to Heceta Head Lighthouse.

HECETA HEAD LIGHT AND KEEPERS HOUSE

HECETA HEAD LIGHT

Normally the lighthouse keepers’ residence is located very close to the lighthouse, but in this instance there is quite a distance between the two. This may have been due to the need for a safe location to launch life boats.eceta He We enjoyed photographing the lighthouse and the sea lions lounging on the rocks below us.

UNDAUNTED SEA LION

As we proceeded South we found some good specimen of rhododendron to photograph. The difficulty was that it was right off the highway so we had to be fully aware of the traffic, and time our shutter release carefully.

RHODODENDRON AT FOREST'S EDGE

Salal

Once in Bandon, we found our accommodations, and proceeded to prepare for our evening on the beach as well as our early dinner.

We had a lovely dinner at the Lord Bennett Restaurant which overlooks the coast and is located on the second floor so you have a commanding view. 

Photography was at the beach at Face Rock. We had a couple of breaks in the clouds so that there were some interesting light to try to capture.

SEA STACKS WITH A LITTLE LIGHT

STORM IS BREWING

AFTER THE SUN HAS SET