Winter Light

Coming back from our annual Christmas tree harvest outing in Gifford Pinchot last week. The light was so perfect all day. No time to photograph with the whole family along, but I got a quick pit stop along the Columbia on the way home, just before the sun set. 

Bedtime

Sunset building on the western edge of San Juan Island. That's Victoria B.C. on the horizon.

One thing about camping is that you tend to sleep and rise with the sun.

And that was especially true for the rising part, because our camping was done as a farm stay,

and the farm had three roosters...each with its own distinct crow

...and its own internal alarm clock.

The earliest riser started his crowing at 4am. so that sort of gets you stirring!

Also there was no campfire area, I guess because it is a working farm and so they are

worried about fires when things get dry in the summer.  That was the only bad part.

When it's dark, it's dark. Time for bed.

Of course this far north in the summer, the sun sets after 9:30 and it's not dark for another hour,

so all in all it was a pretty good bedtime.

Friday Harbor

The Marina at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, just before sunset.  

 It's a large marina, and completely open to the public which is rare, 

so we had a fun time wandering around and admiring the boats.

Marina water is always nice and still, good for reflections.

An occasional boat came in or out, and there was a harbor seal 

hanging around too. As an added bonus, we got those great popcorn clouds!

(They might show up again on the blog in a post or two!)

Linking to Weekend Reflection.

San Juan Sunset

Just before sunset on San Juan Island, this weathered Pacific Madrone with its cool red bark
is really lit up by the setting sun.

Bandon Sunset

Sun setting behind the rocks, with the light filtering through.

Beautiful ending to a beautiful day.

Linking to Weekend Reflections.

Sunset Perch

Our first sunset in Bandon, we headed down the beach toward Face Rock, arriving a few minutes before the sun would set. Fellow photographers were lurking around every rock. I especially appreciated this guy, scrambling up an outcrop to stake out a high ground position above the rest of us. He stayed there for as long as I was on the beach. His rocky compatriot, the seagull on a distant chimney rock, took flight just as the sun was setting. I thought the two of them made a great pair.

Footprints

Change of pace for today, something more abstract. 

This was from our first evening at the beach, walking to Face Rock just before sunset. 

The sun was so low in the sky that the light sand ripples looked like zebra stripes. 

I think the tracks are probably from a playful pup, maybe even my own dog Clover. 

The Old CRC

I love this bridge.  The old Columbia River I-5 crossing.  Also the current Columbia River Crossing.  When we first moved here there was legislation in the works to replace this old bridge with a sleeker, wider, faster bridge including lightrail.  There was a story about the new CRC everyday in our local paper until the deal between Oregon and Washington broke down.  I suppose it will need to be replaced at some point because traffic is just awful at rush hour, and every now and then the bridge lifts to let a boat pass through, and that really snarls things up too.  But once it's replaced it won't have the same charm.  This old sage green bridge is a style that is pretty common in Washington, and it's a style I've really come to love.  I happen to think it's looking especially radiant here in the setting sun

Linking to Weekend Reflections and Skywatch Friday.

Springtime Sunset

Fabulous cloud front illuminated by the setting sun earlier this week. And very typical of what we see in the spring: rain, sun, repeat (xn). We were waiting for a table at a restaurant along the Columbia River, between Vancouver and Portland when this cloud and setting sun were forming. The scene sent me hurrying to my car to get my camera!

Linking to Weekend Reflections and Skywatch Friday.

Sunset on the Columbia

Driving through the gorge earlier this week, we were treated to a pretty colorful sunset for this time of year.  We pulled over at a vista point, along with several dozen other travelers, and enjoyed the view.

Link to Weekend Reflections

Bridge to Astoria

We always look for a seafood restaurant when we're at the coast. I can't say we made the best choice this time, but there's no denying the view from the restaurant was beautiful! We were right up against a little boardwalk with trolley tracks, and had this pretty view of the bridge connecting Astoria, Oregon and Washington State. The sunset was a bonus. 

The Maestro

Eric directing the sunset over Lake Michigan, just because...he's a ham.  :]

Sunset at Indiana Dunes

What a great sunset last night at the Indiana Dunes State Park.  I was thinking it was going to be really flat because the sky was so blank, but after the sun set the sky got this great pink glow, which reminded me of Central Valley sunsets.  Also there was a sandbar right near the shore, so it gave a nice reflection off the water.  The dark circle in the sandbar is the remains of someone's sand castle.  Chicago was barely visible before the sun set; if it were visible in the photo, it would be at the right edge.  Back in Portland tonight, but I will probably have a few more Indiana and Michigan photos to post in the next few days.  We (FINALLY) move in on Wednesday, so after that I doubt I'll post for a week or so...but so glad to be moving in!

Klamath River Overlook

This is the third and final sunset photo in the series I started on September 28th.  It just shows the range of light color in the final hour of sunlight, I think.  This one is probably my least favorite.  I'm not liking the wide-angle view in general right now, and even though I really had to use it here, I just don't care for the effect.  Also I think the photo looks crooked.  I almost always shoot with my camera tipped a little to the left, and if there is an obvious horizon line, then I have to straighten the photo.  I did that here, but the fence post tilts to the right, and the land looks like it's heading uphill because of the angle, so the whole photo just doesn't square up to me.  This is a wide-angle problem, but I think it's really exaggerated here.  And also I was hoping for a brighter cloud color, especially given the range of color in the previous shots.  I really rushed to get up to this overlook, and I ended up not staying here very long.

Yurok Tribe

The mouth of the Klamath River is several miles off 101, and much further down the road than I thought, so I barely made it here before the sunset.  I drove as far as I could down the road, and all of a sudden I was on a huge parking lot full of hundreds of campers, along the edge of the water full of fishermen, with hundreds of birds circling overhead.  It took me a minute to realize I was at a Native American fishing encampment.  It smelled like lots dinner being grilled, and a little bit like fireworks, but the overwhelming scent was fresh fish.  And at this point a beautiful orange sunset silhouetted all the fishing boats in the bay.  A very peaceful spot to watch the setting sun!

Silver Sunset

I caught the sunset coming along a stretch of Highway 101 between Crescent City and Eureka.  I believe the beach is called Fake Klamath Cove.  This was probably an hour before sunset, and the light was sort of silvery then.  Over the next hour I shot a lot of photos, and as the sun sank lower in the sky the color really changed.  This is the first in a series of three sunset photos with a nice progression of light.  Perfect, because I'm really in a beachy mood right now. 

Sunset

It was somewhat overcast all day, and this evening it made for a very interesting sunset!

Lion King Sunset

We've had the most interesting sunset for the last few days.  A huge red sun.  Wish I still had that 400mm lens I rented a few months ago; this would have been a good shot for it!  I think it looks a little like the Lion King sun, but I couldn't get the sky that red.  I had to really underexpose to get all those color bands in the sun.  The sun is emerging from a band of clouds, so maybe if the clouds weren't there I could have had my red sky. 

Sunset at Pebble Beach

My son, Eric, posing on the rocks at Pebble Beach in Carmel, CA.  I think he's posing like in Karate Kid!  We drove the 17 Mile Road after a full day in Monterey, and ended up at the beach just at sunset. 

Paddy Field Sunset

I spotted this stretch of field last week when we were driving to Chico, and decided then that I'd have to come back for a photo.  It's about a two mile stretch of rice fields.  Most of the paddy fields have lots of rice poking up above the water, but not these.  Maybe they were planted later or with a different variety?  Whatever the reason, their lack of rice stalks gave them the best sunset color.  This was in the little town of Robbins, population 100.