Sunrise Moulton Falls

Another angle of the Lewis River (north fork) at Moulton Falls, taken on the snowier day. This one gives a better idea of how the river moves, swiftly through the small canyon it is carving. The river bend at the footbridge (90 degrees to my left) is a rather sharp S-shape, and a large portion of that S curve is fairly shallow, the river having cut more deeply on one side than the other. This allows for the outer bend to give off a nice glassy, reflective surface. I had a hard time with this shot. I think it comes at you a bit too much, but the canyon is narrow here, and I had to frame it that way to get the sunlight reflection on the tree tops. So it's a bit extreme, I think. But it's got a nice frosty feel to it.  When we get snow, it tends to be a warm, wet snow that clings to branches, with temperatures hovering around 32-33 or even slightly higher. So it wasn't really that cold of a day, even at sunrise. The frostiness is a bit deceptive; unless our temperature dips into the 20s (a rare event) it's always more damp than cold.

Moulton Falls, Version 2

So this is the other Moulton Falls photo, which was taken after our first snowfall. We got several inches, and so I headed out to Moulton Falls mid-morning thinking that the roads would be cleared. The driving was still pretty slow because Lucia Falls Rd. runs along the river so it's damp and shady. And even though the elevation is rising as you drive, for some reason (which I still can't figure out) the snow cover got lighter and lighter. And once I got to the falls there was hardly any snow on the ground! Still, the morning light was really nice. I've tried photographing here in the fall and the morning light is harsh and the fall color not great. This light was really ideal. Soft and clear. I love the glacial blue water on this day, and the softer, more painterly light. I redid the trip after our second snowfall because I heard that the snow was heaviest in this area, and because I didn't like where I had placed the little foreground tree. I thought it intersected awkwardly with the bridge. So when I went back on the snowy day, I moved further to the right (which required that I literally be a tree-hugger to get the composition for the snowier version). Now I'm not sure which composition I prefer. 

Moulton Falls

Finally, we got some snow! And just when I was starting to think we weren't going to have a winter this year. I had two local spots I've been waiting to visit in the snow if it ever came. One was the Witch Hazel blooming in the park, but turns out it's done blooming already (it is practically spring here; crocuses blooming, daffodils about to bloom, the forsythia even starting to bloom), so that one was a strike out. The second was the foot bridge at Moulton Falls, which thank goodness was successful (bridges being a good bit more permanent than winter blossoms!). I have a few different versions of it, because we've had several little batches of snowfall this week. This one is the snowiest, and maybe the prettiest. I'll post another version tomorrow. Moulton Falls is northeast of Battle Ground, heading up the back side of Mount St. Helens. Falls is a bit of a stretch, but the river moves swiftly in the winter and spring. This is the north fork of the Lewis River.

Three Arches

Almost sunrise at Netarts Bay on the Oregon coast. In the distance, sunlight hits the top of Three Arches, and just to the left of the rocks my crabbing boat is visible. They were laying crabbing traps while I was photographing.  I wasn't intending to include the boat in my photo; I didn't even see it at the time. There were four different boats laying traps, and one of them was quite close to me, starting and stopping as they dropped the crab traps, and sending an interesting wake my way. That's what I was focusing on when I took this photo. I'm super happy that my boat got included though. Once the traps were set, then we spent the rest of the morning (slack tide time) checking one pot after another, keeping male crabs that were large enough, throwing back female crabs and crabs that were too small. (Small crabs were measured against a guide, and if their shells were wider than the notch in the guide we could keep them). Each licensed crabber can keep 12 crabs, and since I got a weekend license our boat of four could keep up to 48 crabs. We got 45. Not bad for a morning's work!

Netarts Bay

Last weekend I had the opportunity to go crabbing at Netarts Bay near Tillamook. The thing about crabbing is its dependent on the tides, and given the tidal conditions on this day I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning! At least that got us to Netarts before sunrise, so that gave me an opportunity to do a little photography while the traps got set. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed in the uninspiring sunrise light (for the 3:30am effort!) but at least the water was calm, and it was nice to have some sunny weather on the boat.

Winter Lace

Just before sunrise at Netarts Bay near Tillamook, Oregon.  This was my first time out with my camera since before New Year's, and it felt good to get out.  I'll post more about this trip to Netarts in coming days. Today, I want to write about my dog, Clover.  If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that Clover has been my trusty companion on photo shoots. Well, her health began to fail just after the new year, and sadly we lost her this week.  She passed away peacefully, after twelve really great years with our family, and I'm sure going to miss her! If you don't know Clover, you can see her photo in the right-hand side bar (scroll a bit), and also in my top 10 shots of 2017.