Tag Archives: travel

Night Waves

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After dinner one night in Yachats, I decided to go out and see what I could make of the waves crashing on the shore at night.  A number of lights were trained on the shoreline from the local properties so it wasn’t too dark out there.  Even so, it certainly wasn’t very light.  Time to test the low light capabilities of the cameras.  The fact I was going to get slow shutter speeds didn’t bother me particularly as I was interested to see the effects that I could get showing the motion of the waves.

Light levels were indeed better than I had anticipated and I was able to get a lot of shots that came out okay.  There was a good element of luck involved too.  Waves are horribly unpredictable.  If you see something good, you can almost guarantee it won’t do it again and, even if it does, it will be ages before the next set of waves comes in and, even then, the big wave will break differently.  Also, some of the shapes they make turn out to look good in the shot and others are just indistinct messes.  Nothing to do but hang around for a long time and try and lot of different shots and see which ones work.  This randomness is a little frustrating as you feel you should be able to do something to improve but, in this case, it is a case of being there.

Yachats Harbor

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We spent a few days in Yachats, Oregon between Christmas and New Year.  It was a nice opportunity to have a break, see some pretty scenery and relax.  Yachats itself has a nice harbor and, as you drive around the south side of the harbor, you can pull off onto a smaller road that runs parallel to the shore in amongst the many houses that have been built there.  You are on the opposite side to the town itself and the view across the water and the sand flats looks nice with the low winter sung angles.

Bembridge

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The view from the top of Culver Down is usually good (provided you aren’t in cloud) so we took a trip up there while I was visiting mum.  While there was a lot of rain and cloud coming through as a result of the storm system, there was also a fair bit of sun illuminating parts of the countryside when a gap in the clouds showed up.  From that location, you could see where the sun was running to.  Whether looking down at the windmill, across to the harbor or spotting the Ledge (a nasty rocky outcrop just below the surface of the sea that has claimed many an unlucky sailor), the light was interesting.  The rainbow certainly didn’t hurt either.

Bridge at Hecata Head

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Highway 101 passes Hecata Head and crosses a river before entering a tunnel through the cliffs.  The bridge is a pretty elegant structure.  Unfortunately, winter is not a good time to try and photograph it.  It is tucked in amongst the hills and the sun will only be on it when in the west and probably only in the middle of summer when it gets a lot further north.  I had to work with what we had in the shade.  Playing around with exposures and working with some HDR processing did allow me to bring a bit more punch to the shots which I felt represented more of what I actually saw while I was there.

Hecata Head Lighthouse

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Head south along the coast from Yachats and you have a steady stream of gorgeous locations.  One of these is Hecata Head.  The treacherous nature of this part of the Oregon coastline means a string of lighthouses were built at intervals to ensure coverage and Hecata Head was one of those locations.  The lighthouse is still there and it a popular tourist attraction.

You approach the lighthouse from the beach below, as would the original residents in the days when Highway 101 didn’t exist and boat access was the main way there.  The houses for the keeper and assistant keeper were halfway between the beach and the lighthouse itself.  The keeper’s house is now gone but the assistant keeper’s house is still there and is fully maintained.  You can rent it out for events if you wish.

The location of the lighthouse itself provides a commanding view of the coastline and out to sea.  Whales migrate along the coastline here and there were people keeping watch for them while we were there.  If you head a bit further south on the highway, you get to an overlook which allows you to see back to the lighthouse and you see just how rugged the location is.  I imagine building everything there was no small feat and neither was living there year round.

Atlanta Marriott Marquis Architecture

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I was in Atlanta on work for a few days and the Marriott Marquis hotel was the center of a lot of the events I was involved with.  I had not been to this hotel before and I had no idea what it looked like. Externally, it looks a little different but not particularly interesting.  However, the interior is a very different story.  For a while when I was first in there, I didn’t realize just how dramatic it is.  Then I looked up!

The atrium runs the height of the hotel and the floors gradually taper in towards the top.  The curved patterns of the floors look like the ribs of an animal.  From the ground looking up, it is amazing.  There is an area in the lobby with a small roof so you can be under there and have no idea.  Then you step out and have a “wow” moment.  From the top floors, looking down is just as incredible.  If, like me, you are not partial to heights, it is rather scary.  I did have to look though.

 

Tumwater Canyon

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Our trip across Stevens Pass ended just short of Leavenworth.  We took a run along the river through Tumwater Canyon.  Here the river sits in the bottom of the valley and the road runs alongside it.  Plenty of nice views of the river as it winds its way downhill, some of which you can only see as you drive along the road because there is no space to stop.  Other locations, though, do provide an area to allow you to pull off and wander around.  Given how pretty it is, you are not alone in these places!

The river widens out in places and then narrows in to some rapids in others.  On a sunny day with the fall foliage around, standing by the water and watching the swirling and tumbling flows is really relaxing.  The noise of the water can drown out the traffic passing not far away and you can be quite mesmerized.  If you don’t mind the close proximity to the traffic, you can also explore a little in each direction away from the parking and get some great new views of the river.  You are either walking alongside the road or outside the barriers and close to the edge of the river so paying attention is a must!

One downside to the popularity of the place is that it is a bit tricky to avoid having lots of people in your shots.  You can move away a little and have them out of sight.  Alternatively, a little careful selection of your angles and shooting location and they can either be cropped out or cunningly concealed behind some other part of the scenery.

Iron Goat Caboose

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The old path of the railroad across Stevens Pass has been abandoned and replaced by a new route that is lower down and has tunneled through sections of the mountains to avoid the tricky climb that was previously required.  This abandoned right of way has been turned into a trail called the Iron Goat Trail.  Since it is a railroad trackbed, it is not a steep trail which means that a substantial portion of it is actually wheelchair accessible!

Our day out did not include time for hiking but the trail looks well worth exploring and, come the spring, we shall be making a specific trip to go hiking.  We did stop at the parking lot to read the signs about the history of the pass.  Also, an old caboose is kept at the entrance to the trail and I figured it deserved a shot!

Sunset on the Mountain Tops

The view from our hotel in Whistler towards the mountains was really pretty but never more so than when the sun was setting.  A couple of evenings I thought I should get a shot but was either elsewhere or too slow.  I did manage to get out there one time though, although I was still a little late.  The shadows were creeping up the lower slopes of the mountains but I still had the nice color on the summits.  The warm, evening light was really appealing and mountains look good at the best of times so this was a great scene to see.