Sunbreak

Dramatic clouds and sun in the gorge. I was on the Washington side, so this view is looking at Oregon which has the more dramatic landscape in the gorge. And this photo was taken close to Stevenson, which is often where the weather shifts as the river bends.

Cascade Locks

Calm waters on the Columbia near Cascade Locks, 

along with a nice break in clouds, 

made for an interesting framed reflection.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Sunbreak

I remember reading once that Inuits have 50 different words for snow; I'm not sure if this is true or not.  But I do know that weather forecasters in the Pacific Northwest have a lot of subtle variations in weather terminology.  Our local paper might call for rain, bit of rain, showers, or a shower.  And on any given day, it's likely that this forecast will be true...at least for a few minutes before it changes to something else.  But yesterday when I saw the forecast for heavy downpours, which is one I've never seen before, and with a likelihood of 100%, I decided to head back through the gorge to the orchards in the Hood River Valley for a particular photo I'm working on.  Halfway there, the rain stopped, and the sun tried to peek through the clouds for a few minutes.  This is also a photo I've been working on, but not one I was expecting to get yesterday.  Photography in the PNW is training me to be open to any weather possibility!  I did eventually make my way to the orchards, which I will share in the coming days.  And speaking of orchards, I have to say thank you for all the different comments on yesterday's hilly orchard post.  So many different regional variations and perspectives.  That's one of the things that makes blogging so fun!

Linking to Weekend Reflections

Sunbreak in Blue and Silver: Columbia

Nocturne: Blue and Silver - Cremorne Lights
James Abbott McNeill Whistler  1872

I'm continuing to work my way through the list of artists ahead of my class this week.  Another painter who interested me was James Abbott McNeill Whistler.  He had a series of beachscape and harbor paintings where he placed the horizon pretty high up on the canvas, and mainly just painted variations in the water tone.  I thought they were really pretty, and when we were driving along the Columbia on Sunday we came upon a turnout where the light was especially beautiful on the water.  So I tried photographing the scene with the land high in the frame.  Now that I'm reading about Whistler a little, I can see that the paintings that interested me are in a style called Nocturne; he was trying to represent light at night.  I definitely wasn't trying to do that, but I do like the composition he uses.