Notes To My Mother

Driving up the Oregon Coast I found myself falling in love with this state. First you come to Brookings, a small town with Harris Beach a very popular stop and Boardman State Park. The park extends north of town and has several viewing sites along the highway. All very beautiful, but continue on to Bandon. Oh Bandon! What a paradise for site seers and photographers. The beaches at Bandon, as with most of the beaches in Oregon have a very gradual incline so that when a wave comes in it breaks and the glides and glides toward the high water mark. What this accomplishes for the photographer is a wonderfully reflective surface. Put something interesting to reflect, add some color in the sky and you have Bandon. In addition to the reflective qualities, the fact the beaches incline is gradual means you can stand out in the surf without being inundated by the waves. This is not true at all of the beaches in Oregon, and not even at Bandon when the surf is rough, but when it is calm, it is...

In the northwest corner of the State of California there is a little town called Trinidad. It is a sweet little place perched on a hillside overlooking the Pacific Ocean. A short squat red and white lighthouse next to the road on the southern edge of the town looks over the boats moored far below by the pier that juts out into a protected cove. The view from here is toward the south and it is expansive. Venturing around the town to the northwest side you will find a sweet little beach with some very nice views. The easiest way to access this beach is through Trinidad Beach State Park where you can easily access a trail that winds back and forth down to the beach. As with so many sites I visit I first discovered this one on the internet where I found an exquisite image taken by Patrick Smith. It was a time delayed shot taken with the aide of a ten-stop neutral density filter and the colors and textures were wonderful. I wanted the experience of shooting a similar shot, so on my w...

He told me it was the scariest shoot he had ever done. Standing on the edge of the raging ocean, he was constantly worried the surge of the surf was going to pull him into the well. Looking down into it you can pretty well know if you go in you will not be coming out. How thrilling! I looked it up on the web and in reading about it saw more of these kinds of comments about how scary was. O.K., it would be really thrilling! When my friend told me the conditions were expected to be prefect soon and would I like to go, there was no hesitation “Count me in.” It is called Thor’s Well and is located about half way up the Oregon Coast. It is a hole in the rocks that extends out to the ocean so that as a wave comes to shore it enters the hole and surges up through it coming out the top and spilling over on the surrounding rock shelf. It is a continuous emptying, gushing up and out, spilling over, and emptying again. Add to this the surf coming up onto the surrounding shelf as wel...

We are in Amsterdam and it is our first night on the boat (Viking River Cruise). We are in bed and asleep by 10 pm.  It has been a long day of travel and we are exhausted. The boat is to disembark at 11 pm.  Around 11:30 I wake up.  No movement detected and I conclude the sailing time must have been delayed. Opening the curtain I am amazed that the world is silently passing by our window. There is not a hint of movement on the boat, just smooth, soft, quiet sailing. We are gliding through the Netherlands with windmills as our morning destination.  Jan and I are both awake well before sunrise, coffees in hand, camera around my neck. We have a deck off our room so we can hang out there and watch the morning come alive. Here is one of the morning scenes on the river. This image was taken well before sunrise. Each morning, a little before sunrise,  the mist would begin to form on the river, making for some very nice photo opportunities. Those passeng...