Among Giants

It started off calmly at Crescent City's marina.

Then we continued our day with the giant redwoods.  I have seen them in photos. Impressive.  But, to be among them and REALLY see how magnificent they are, to smell the earth around them, to appreciate the environment that they create. . . there is just no way to describe, or as it turns out, photograph them easily.

We want to go back today and see if we can better capture what is there. Not to whine too much, however, the dynamic range in the forest is so wide that even HDR does not compensate.  We tried everything!!  Here are some of our photos from our day.

Tom, my BIG man looked a bit small among these giants. I know the tree looks blue and it was a very blue gray color.  

Uh, are we sure we want to drive under this.  Sure, we are photographers and there are more photos ahead. Tom's take is that the car would survive the log sliding down! I held my breath.

There are some fall colors showing up in other trees in the forest.

The photo below is of the BIG TREE.  It has its own wayside, is 1,500 years old and 60 feet in diameter.  Talk about a tough photograph subject!  The image just does not do this tree justice.

Tom mentioned that everyone around the big tree was whispering or speaking very softly.  "Like in a cathedral." He said.  That is a good description of how it felt.

Just imagine a walk down this path, with ever changing light, the smell of damp and fertile earth, quiet . . .

You might come across this.

Or this!

Or these.

It was hard to leave the redwoods.  On our way to Eureka we spotted elk. This young buck is such a show off. The big bull was out of our lens' reach and since he was agitated we did not foolishly pursue him.  This buck smartly stayed just outside the herd of 20 or so cows that were near the bull.

An old school house became our golden hour shot.

Today we are returning to the redwoods. Then, southbound we will be.

Have a great day. Get out and shoot, even if in your back yard. Plus, in Phoenix you may have some fun weather to shoot.

Last Call for Oregon

Yesterday was the last leg of our Oregon coast trip. Last night we crossed the border. Gas prices went up 50 cents.  Taxes resumed on everything.  Nothing else seemed to change as I looked at the coast which knows only physical borders.

We offer fewer photos today.  Tom took most of them as I messed around with video and waves.  Am making some slow, but productive progress in learning what works and what does not.  Audio is a huge problem as there was so much wind yesterday that even my add-on mic only picked up the wind, not the wave sounds. When I have a chance I will also learn more about using Final Cut to correct some taping challenges.

Enjoy our day as we did.  Lots of smiles on these old faces.

Down the road, another pullout. This is called Arch Rock.  There is a precarious hike down to the beach.  We did not attempt it, happy to shoot from above.

Further south, another pullout.  This is called Natural Bridge as it really does span from one side to the other. No beach access.  Challenge was to get a shot from the railing without getting nothing but luscious green plants.

I took a still photo where I had been videotapping.  What a golden effect!!

My favorite shot of the day.  Tom, just standing still (unusual), looking out over the vastness that still causes wonder in both of us.

Today we are going to check out the Redwoods, head south or inland, and share another day together.  Life is pretty good!

Hope your day goes fabulously.

Cruising 101 Coos Bay to Golden Beach

Our first stop was Coquille.  My parents lived there briefly when I was a baby. Neither mom nor I have been back, so we stopped to take photos to share with her. She has wonderful memories of her time there.  But, Coquille, like so many other small towns that we have traveled through, has seen its better days.  Some places seem to be able to re-invent themselves and attract new residents and tourists. Coquille is not one of them. Nevertheless, we walked up and down the two streets that now make up the downtown and took photos. Here are some of them.

There are several large murals painted on the walls of very old buildings, some almost deteriorated.  At some point, people were committed to preserving their story and fixing things up.

We see this often . . . a town has very elaborate buildings built long ago when the town was full of mining or lumber industries and their money barons.  The industries change, people move away leaving small populations, a small tax base and it is then hard to imagine why such elaborate buildings were built. 

This building may have been abandoned.  On a Monday there was no sign of activity.

Tom went off the main downtown area and found this lovely old home.  Still inhabited.  I think the upper right windowed tower looks like a lighthouse. Coquille is close enough to Coos Bay or Bandon to offer a bedroom alternative!  Strategically something for them to consider!

Then off to Bandon, which has a lighthouse and a big tourist trade.  The Bandon lighthouse is smaller than the others and was the last one built along Oregon's coast. It was also the first to be de-commissioned.  It was replaced by a small box on a stand out at the end of the jetty that is at the mouth of the bay.  You can tour the lighthouse and it has a gift shop.

Usually lighthouses are built where they can be protected from severe storms.  Not this one!  It is built right at the beginning of a low jetty that was built to protect the harbor.  We were there an hour before high tide and already the waves are crashing up on the rock just below the lighthouse.  The volunteer said that just last week when a storm came through the water was splashing right up to the windows of the house and sometimes even the windows in the tower.  Yikes!!!  

Tom is shooting from higher ground these days.

Looking north along a beach in Bandon.  Sun behind me.

Looking south into the sun from the same location.  I give Tom the tough assignments!

The lighthouse actually looks more impressive from across the river! Taken as we headed back into town for ice cream.

We ate our ice cream as we sat on the boardwalk overlooking the marina.  There were very nice myrtle wood benches and we easily watched sea gulls and fishermen.  I love marinas, always imagining where the boats have been and who owns them.  I really like the colorful boats!

As we got ready to leave we noticed something moving in the water.  Culprit!

We spent the night in Gold Beach.  Today we explore and head south.

Wishing you a great Tuesday.