It was a “Labor Day” of love, hiking in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness Area in the Oregon Cascades, searching and finding Marion and Gatch waterfalls. The two waterfalls are less than 100 feet apart and the view of them both is quite spectacular.
Marion and Gatch Falls
Drove 3 hours to the Nature Conservancy’s Blind Slough Preserve near Astoria, Oregon to join a group of volunteers to help remove Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) growing vigoursly in the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge in Washington. The photo below shows the invasive species on the wildlife refuge which is directly across from the perserve seen in the background. The population acts as a seed source and the goal is to start removing it from the refuge.
Purple Loosestrife
We braved the mud, wind, and high tide, to remove four canoe loads of the invasive species.
Lots more to do. More photos here.
If you use Adobe Lightroom for managing you digital images then you probably know that typing “r” will take you to the Develop Module and put you into crop mode. But do you know what the grids lines are there for, or how to change them, or how to use all the overlays properly, or why they are shaped the way they are?
In this PDF article of nearly 2000 words and 6 figures you will learn how to improve the compositon of your photographs when using Lightroom. Learning proper composition techniques by learning to crop photos will also improve your composition when taking a photo and then you’ll spend less time cropping in Lightroom allowing for more time to take photos.
The following is an excerpt from the article:
When I first saw the four remaining overlays (Diagonals, Triangles, Golden Ratio, and Golden Spiral) I had no idea what they were, why there were there, or how to use them. After some research, I learned that these overlays are based on the Golden Ratio.
Many famous paintings, including those by Leonardo da Vinci, and ancient buildings, such as the Parthenon and the Pyramids, are said to have been produced with Golden Ratio in mind. However, those statements are debatable and not certain fact. But one thing is certain—rectangles with proportions close to the Golden Ratio do appear in art and…
Learn not only how to use this Lightroom overlay, but also why.
It was hot on Saturday, however, the heat did not prevent a group of volunteers from pulling invasive Queen Anne’s Lace (Wild Carrrot) at The Nature Conservancy’s Kingston Prairie Preserve in Oregon.
Removing Invasive Species
We also collected seeds of White Brodiaea (Triteleia hyacinthina).
Thanks to all the volunteers!
Got a new Pentax Lens.
Finley National Wildlife Refuge has one of the last remaining examples of a native wetland prairie.
There is a section of the Discovery Trail at Peavy Arboretum that has two invasive geranium species, Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) and Shiny Geranium (Geranium lucidum), growing along side of the path. Both are from Europe and becoming more and more a concern is western Oregon. Pretty flowers untill you learn about their potential impact on the forest.
Invasive Geranium
another Geranium
See more photos here
We’d been thinking about this trip for years. All we needed was snow to fall at high elevation during the week and an excellent chance of sunshine on Saturday and it all to happen when we both had a free Saturday.
So, Ray and I headed out of Corvallis at 7:00 Am and arrived at 12:30PM. We hiked and shot photos till 5:00 and returned home about 10:30PM.
Long day, worth the trip.
Discovery Point Pano
Snow at Silver Creek Falls State Park
Winter came early and hard to the Willamette Valley in 2008. Mid-December brought snow to the Valley floor and more than a foot at Silver Creek Falls State Park.
Photography wasn’t easy as gray skies prevailed and snow continued to fall while I was there making for monochromatic images. Many of the images I took were stitched together to create a wider angle view than my lens allowed.
Winter. North Fork Silver Creek, Silver Falls State Park, Oregon
South Falls
See more at:
Oregon Conservation Photography
