Tag Archives: vacation

Changing Landscapes By The Second

The weather while we were in Jackson was rather variable. Our first day was pretty sunny but it clouded over and the second day had clouds constantly moving through. You would get patches of sun showing up periodically but it was generally overcast. As you looked to the hillsides surrounding the valley, there was hardly a moment when things were constant. Light might pick out the terrain briefly and then a cloud would roll in and obscure the view completely. There was always something different to see. Even though the conditions were not great, it was still gorgeous to watch the constant evolution.

Big Horn Sheep Safely on the Slopes

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The end of our wildlife spotting trip in Jackson took us around the back of the elk refuge. Alongside the road is a slope which is very popular with the Big Horn Sheep. It has steep sides and food for them to graze on. The terrain renders them safe from the predators that might otherwise bother them since they are the ones with the advantage on such a steep and craggy slope. There were families of sheep scattered along the slope.

They weren’t very far away from us but, seeing as they are not large, they didn’t fill the viewfinder. Our guide carried a spotting scope which gave us a really close view. It also allowed you to get a quite impressive photo using only your cellphone since you could hold it up against the eyepiece. I did shoot with the bigger camera too, though. Some of the sheep moved up on to the ridge line where they were silhouetted for me to photograph. It was fun to watch them move around as they were constantly walking to the next good food source all while they were perched on some pretty precarious spaces.

BC Ferries at Work

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Our ferry ride to Swartz Bay was on one of BC Ferries larger boats. There were multiple decks to explore and a great view to watch passing by once we got in amongst the Gulf Islands. We also saw a few other ferries as we went. The ferry running the opposite service to ours passed us by as we made our way through one of the narrow passages between the islands. While not identical, it was a similar size to our boat.

The smaller islands also have service. Since they are not generating anything like the traffic that Vancouver to Victoria generates, the ferries are a lot smaller. We saw some docked up as we passed while others were making their own crossings. The waterways were pretty busy with ferry traffic for a November weekday. I wonder how many were tourists like us and how many were people going about their normal business.

Bison in the Snow

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As a celebration of a milestone birthday for m, we took a weekend in Jackson Hole. Part of the visit was a trip into Yellowstone on a snowcoach. There isn’t much in the way of wildlife in Yellowstone during the winter. The bears are hibernating and the moose and elk have all headed down to lower levels. Some bison have also headed down but other stay, attracted by the thawed areas around the hot springs. We saw a few of them working their way through snow covered grounds using their powerful necks to move snow away from the plants underneath.

Puffins

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In the UK, the puffin is a well recognized bird. The small body and large bill are easily identified and the coloring is pretty bright. I am struggling to think whether I have ever seen one in the wild as they live in some pretty remote places. I might have but I don’t recall it. The aquarium in Newport OR had a bunch of them though. While the coloring was a lot more subdued, there was no doubt that they were puffins given their shape.

Whether birds really have personality or not, you can imagine it with puffins. They seem to be very fussy in the way they move which is probably just a function of being quite a small bird. As they paddled around the pool and flapped their wings, we got a good look at their mannerisms. The enclosure was pretty compact so you were very close to them which allowed some good opportunities to get some shots. Seeing them out in the wild would be cooler but I don’t tend to hang around on cliff faces too often.

Cannon Beach

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Cannon Beach was quite a way north of where we were staying in Oregon. However, it was on our route home so we stopped off to wander along the sands for a bit prior to hunting down some lunch. We were not the only ones enjoying a sunny day on the beach but, given the expanse of sand available, there was plenty of space for everyone to spread out so it wasn’t crowded.

The huge flat sands were most impressive and the rocks that sit out in the water look very cool. It is hard to gauge their scale when they are out like that as they are so separated from the people that you don’t have enough of a reference to work with. It is safe to say that they are pretty big though. There was a bit of sea spray in the air which made everything take on a slightly more misty look when you were looking south towards the sun. Looking north this was a lot less apparent. I could see why a landscape photographer would come here to spend some time in the early and late hours.

Beaches in the Mist

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The moisture in the air along the Oregon coast can catch you out at times. On one drive south out of Yachats we rounded a bend in the road where we looked down from quite a height along the beaches stretched beneath us. It looked most impressive, but we were then on the way down a twisty road and had missed the pull off. I made a note to come back another time. This I did but the conditions had changed a lot. There was now a lot more mist in the air and the beaches were disappearing into the glare from the sun. Even so, it was still a very pretty location.

Oregon Bridges

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The Pacific Coast Highway runs along the coast in Oregon and passes through some towns with big harbors. Rather than head inland around the harbors, the highway crosses the entrance to some of these harbors over bridges. The architecture of some of these bridges is pretty cool. They have a bit of a deco feel to them. Sadly, some of the details are best seen as you are driving over which limits the ability to get pictures.

Get a bit further away, though, and you can see the bridges and get some shots. Sunset on the bridge at Waldport made for a good view. The bridge at Newport was one we crossed a number of times. I only got to shoot it on the morning we drove home. A quick diversion down to the area near the brewery meant I could take a couple of pictures before getting on our way for the long drive home.

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.

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.