Central Oregon Adventures and Smith Rock Sunset Photos
Yesterday started a little slowly as I had more computer and billing work to do than I prefer on any free day although I hopefully closed a fine art transaction that I’ll list here on the blog when it becomes slightly more official. My initial photo mission was to find a dry canyon outside of Sisters, Oregon, which I’d identified on a map. My hope was that the canyon would have views of Central Oregon’s Three Sisters over the top of the canyon. My first attempt was swiftly blocked by fate at the access road was closed due to seasonal wildlife usage. Oh well, as I was close to Sisters, I stopped in to see Brad at Eurosports which is an outdoor store with an emphasis on bicycling and cross country skiing. Brad was helpful as always and shared some trail information. Next I stopped in to one of my favorite Central Oregon Bookstores, Paulina Springs Books where I got a couple of trail guides to replace my old tattered versions. My last city stop was at Three Creeks Brewing Company, where Dave Fleming continues to churn out excellent beers. He recently brewed a great dry hopped pale ale which has a wonderfully aromatic nose. If you are in Sisters and you enjoy a fine microbrew, you should stop in to visit the good folks at Three Creeks Brewing Company.
As I was denied access to my intended photography location for the day I made alternate plans. I drove the back roads to Lake Billy Chinook. I’m not a power boater nor do I enjoy busy recreational lakes but I’m always pleased with how beautiful Lake Billy Chinook and the surrounding areas are. By this time of day the light had gotten pretty harsh but there were some pretty interesting lenticular type clouds forming overhead. I’ll include the following picture primarily because it shows the clouds starting to form over Mt. Jefferson, high above the basalt walls of Lake Billy Chinook.
photo/picture of Mt. Jefferson high above the basalt walls of Lakes Billy Chinook
The clouds forming at the top of this picture weren’t going to work for sunset shots of the Cascade mountains but I knew they might work out for sunset shots at Smith Rock State Park near Terrebonne so I loaded up and went to Smith Rock. For quite some time I’ve been trying to get a good sunset shot of the backside of Smith Rock including Monkey face at sunset with some good clouds as a backdrop and suddenly I thought today might be my day.
Once I’d arrived at Smith Rock I made a quick driving tour and took a couple of pictures of the Monument at the north end of Smith Rock. The monument is an alluring subject and one with which my friend, photographer, and neighbor, Troy McMullin has a growing obsession. To see one of Troy’s thousands of photos of the Monument at Smith Rock visit our stock photo site’s high desert gallery. Below is a picture I shot yesterday of Troy’s Beloved Monument.
Golden evening light bathes the monument and the Crooked River at Smith Rock State Park
The warm golden light was nice but it wasn’t the photo I had in mind. I quickly hiked down the overlook area and across the Crooked River Bridge and started heading along the river to the backside of Smith Rock where Monkey Face is located. As the light was starting to fade a bit I decided to make a gamble and try a short cut over asterisk pass which is the low point along the morning glory wall and dihedrals area where you can see a cool balanced rock. Well My short cut was a bad idea. There are signs that clearly indicate that asterisk pass is not a hiking trail and they are accurate. I managed, with a fair amount of struggle to get to the top of the pass but getting down the opposite side with my bulky photography pack was a risk I wasn’t willing to take for the sake of photos. Just a warning, don’t try to hike/scramble over this pass unless you are very comfortable with some exposed scrambling. I could have made it down the opposite side without a pack but that too would have been stressful. The good thing that did come out of climbing to the top of asterisk pass were that I could see that the clouds were thinning out over monkey face and would no longer make for a good backdrop. Additionally, I got to enjoy a new vantage point of a beautiful area of Smith Rock. below is a quick pic I snapped of the morning glory wall from near the top of asterisk pass.
Evening light on Smith Rock as seen from asterisk pass
The light would definitely be better in the morning which gives me another photo excuse to return to Smith Rock! Because of the changing cloud conditions, I reversed paths and quickly returned to the overlooks near the parking areas on the opposite side of the Crooked River because I thought that offered the best opportunity for colorful sunset. light. I was right! As I climbed along the trail to the parking area, the light really heated up and I captured the following sunset photo from near the view point overlooking the park.
Sunset photo of Smith Rock State Park and the Crooked River below
This photo alone made my day of cloud chasing worth while. I love the composition of the sunset cloud spreading out over the distant rock formations. Next I hustled to a slightly different location that I thought might hold color slightly longer. The low point with the small balanced rock is asterisk pass where I had been balanced only a few minutes before. Mt Jefferson is framed over asterisk pass in this particular photo.
Mt. Jefferson framed above Smith Rock's asterisk pass at sunset with the morning glory wall to the right.
This day typified many in my little world of Oregon Landscape Photography in the more adaptable I am to environmental conditions the more successful my photos for the day will be. I’ll soon upload the best photos from this day onto our stock photo site, Pacific Crest Stock, so please visit our High Desert Gallery if you would like to see these images or others from the beautiful desert areas around Central Oregon.
Posted by Mike Putnam
Smith Rock Snow Photos
Recently, Troy McMullin and I ventured to Smith Rock State Park to enjoy the low elevation snow to be found there. It was the first sunny day in quite some time and we both were happy to get out of the clouds that had been inhabiting Central Oregon. I am repeatedly amazed at how stunning the Smith Rock area is. I’m convince that if it was located east of the Mississippi River, it would have been made into a national park long ago. With its stunning colors, vertical towers the Crooked River flowing around its periphery, and with Gray Butte as a backdrop it is simply an amazing place to visit. Personally, I think it surpasses anything outside of Utah with its rugged, rocky appeal. Of course it is world famous for its Rock Climbing and less so for its hiking, mt. biking, and photo opportunities.
The Monument and snow at Smith Rock State Park
One of the less obvious but very photo worthy rock features at Smith Rock is the Monument. I’ve always been very fond of this photo location and Troy seemingly has developed something of an obsession with the scene. Please click the following link to visit Pacific Crest Stock . It is the stock photography company that Troy and I will be launching shortly after New Years. In the link included you’ll find some other very nice photos of Smith Rock and the high desert areas of Central and Eastern Oregon.
The snow cover made for some interesting textures and mid range details in our images. If you or anyone you know visits Smith Rock while it is still snow covered, please be careful. The snow adds a level of danger to the scene as well as beauty. The prominent basalt columns along the Crooked River Canyon are especially dangerous when snow covered. Obviously they are slippery, but many small crevices are now snow covered creating many hidden and potentially dangerous pitfalls. Be careful if venturing near any cliff edges for photo, climbing, or sight seeing purposes.
Smith Rock towers and snow covered basalt columns
Above is a photo of Smith Rock from high above the Crooked River Canyon featuring some slippery yet attractive snow covered basalt columns in the foreground with some rocky snow covered spires in the background. The light was not optimal for some areas of the park but the exploring was exceptional and beautiful from every angle, even if photo conditions were slightly less than perfect. It is rather rare to have this much snow at Smith Rock and blue skies because the snow tends to melt of quickly at that elevation when the sun appears on the scene. I captured the next photo from an entirely different area of Smith Rock. This rock formation is to the left after you cross the bridge over the Crooked River. It has some beautiful pastel hues in its rock formations but is quite dangerous for rock climbing purposes as I’m told that it is rather crumbly.
Smith Rock and the frozen Crooked River covered in snow.
One of the surprising things about this photo adventure was how thoroughly the Crooked River was frozen. The clouds behind this impressive rock formation are a bit disappointing in that they obscure South Sister peaking out to the left side of the rock formation. I like how the snowy juniper trees frame the bottom of this picture and the curvature of the Crooked River(perhaps this is why it’s called the Crooked River!) emphasizes the shape of the giant rock formation at the south end of Smith Rock. Finally I’ll include a detail shot of one of my favorite rock formations. Smith Rock is a wonderland for photos, hiking, biking, and virtually any outdoor activity and I love the big western scenes there. This being said, perhaps my favorite aspect of Smith Rock State Park is the small details I find upon intimate inspection of this stunning location. Like so many other spots at Smith Rock, the following photo reveals beauty in its finer details.
Smith Rock winter details
I love the varied color palette visible in this picture. The rust, aqua, and oranges all enlivened by the snowy details on these intricate rock formations. It is finding perspectives like this that has become my favorite aspect of photography explorations of Smith Rock.
If anybody is interested in a beautiful and snowy perspective of Smith Rock, now is the time for a hike as the snow often does not last long in this area of the high desert of Central Oregon and please be careful near cliff edges as the snowy beauty harbors some seasonal dangers that are best avoided. Happy Holidays!
Deschutes River Winter Photos
As Old Man Winter has thoroughly put his stamp on Central Oregon, my preferred backcountry photo locations become less accessible and even simple hikes can become a difficult task. With nearly a foot of snow in my backyard, conditions are excellent for some great winter photos, of locations that would otherwise be photographically unworthy. As there doesn’t appear to be a break in Central Oregon’s pattern of snow storms and heavily overcast skies in the near future, I’ve temporarily given up on any mountain alpenglow and fresh snow shots for the foreseeable future. Instead I’ve turned towards some less remote scenes for some interesting winter pictures.
On overcast, snow days like today, I usually find some worthy photo material at Tumalo State Park. As Highway 20 descends into the Deschutes River’s basin, on the left side of the road is an attractive overlook where you can get an arial view of the northern end of Tumalo State Park and a graceful curve in the Deschutes River. On rare snowy cold days like today, when the riparian area along the Deschutes’ shores are powdered with fresh snow, the scene is especially elegant because the juniper and ponderosa trees retain extra detail from the snow on their limbs and the snow covers some less attractive areas in the state park area. The following photo was taken from that unmarked but very pleasant location.
Deschutes River in winter
Upon entering the state park, I was rewarded with solitude and some of the best winter and snow scenery in the Bend, Oregon area. I made first tracks in the freshly fallen snow and thoroughly explored this beautiful Central Oregon location. I took pictures from all over the park but I’ll only present a few of my favorites in this blog entry. I think these photos will be great for stock photo purposes. As I stumbled up stream, I made an obligatory stop at my favorite ponderosa tree. It’s broad limbs were predictably snow covered making an interesting, graphic picture. This tree is absolutely immense and the density of the arrangement of its branches make it one of my favorite oregon photo subjects.
Snow covered ponderosa tree in Central Oregon's Tumalo State Park near Bend Oregon
Further up river more rewarding winter photos were to be found. The red osier dogwoods along the Deschutes River’s shores add a splash of red to the scene as do the trunks of numerous ponderosa trees along both banks of the river. Near the southern end of the park is a broad and rugged boulder field filled with volkswagen sized lava rocks. This boulder field is tedious to navigate in summer and it turns out that it is fairly treacherous when snow covered. The following photo was taken at the up stream end of the boulder field.
Snow covered boulders and ponderosa trees line the Deschutes River
Because these boulders were snow covered many cracks and concave areas were hidden, making the travel especially difficult. I spent a considerable amount of time on my belly grasping at small slippery hand hold in an attempt to not fall into any of the snow covered cracks that served as trap doors between the large rocks. Frankly, I wouldn’t recommend traveling through the rock field to others. Instead I would recommend climbing up hill above the rocks if you insisted on pressing up stream beyond this location. The next photo is from just beyond the boulder field. I really like the graceful curvature that the deschutes makes in this location and I love the color lent to this beautiful winter scene by the ponderosas and red osier dogwoods that flank the river.
The Deschutes River flanked by snow covered ponderosa trees fill this Central Oregon scene.
I stopped my hike at the point where the above picture was taken and began a cold and hasty retreat back to my truck. For those of you who enjoy winter hiking, Tumalo State Park is beautiful right now. The snow cover has made an already beautiful hike even more stunning but I would highly recommend avoiding the snow covered boulder field as it is challenging and quite dangerous when snow covered, like now!
Central Oregon Snow Photos
Virtually everywhere I go around Bend I’ve been hearing people praying to the proverbial snow gods. As it’s nearly December and there is only the lightest dusting of snow on our local mountains it would be good for everyone except my wife( she never wants cold or snow except on Christmas) if we were to get several heavy dumps of snow. In terms of my photography, I would definitely like some snow to cover dormant plants and to give the cascades a more alpine look and feel. I’ve got several exciting winter photography outings planned but no winter with which to work. Instead of fretting over sub optimal landscape photography conditions I’ve been working on some stock photography chores on the computer. I’d always rather be outside exploring but at least I’ve been fairly productive while waiting for the snow to fall. In anticipation of a late but inevitable winter, I’ve put together some of my favorite winter photos from previous years. All of these images were captured with my large format camera which can be a bit tedious but when I get it right it allows me to make stunning fine art prints. The first photo is our beloved Mt. Bachelor in its full winter glory, clearly not shot this year. This photo was taken two years ago in January. I’d been tracking weather patterns for over a week and was fortunate enough to capture this image at sunrise the morning after a 28 inch snow fall.
Mt. Bachelor at sunrise after a heavy snow fall.
This photograph like most backcountry winter images required lots of work. An early rise, a brutal snow shoe up Tumalo Mountain through deep snows with a heavy camera pack while the thermometer reading hovered at zero degrees fahrenheit. Getting to a winter shot is only part of the battle. Finding a level spot to set up a tripod so that it doesn’t sink in the snow is always a difficult task. Snow blowing onto my lens and leaving fuzzy areas on my images can be disastrous. Accidently breathing on my lens is inconvenient at best as it takes a bit of time before the haze will clear and if its too cold, my breath freezes on the lens making my photos look like they were shot through an opaque shower door. Not Good. Finally there’s the frustration of the visual qualities of snow itself. If I can’t get to snow before its been exposed to the sun, it is virtually never visually attractive. Here in Central Oregon, it is often sunny right after a storm, melting the snow and making unsightly bare patches contrast unattractively against still snow covered areas. Essentially, if you want a really attractive winter landscape photo you need to be there right after a fresh snowfall and hope the wind hasn’t already blown the snows off of the trees in the area you want to shoot.
I love alpenglow photos like this one because I like color in my images and because they are a reminder how how special it is to spend time in the mountains. Where else can you get two free and beautiful light shows daily, courtesy of Mother Nature?
The following image was logistically simpler but still had its difficulties.
My favorite ponderosa grove, near Sisters, Oregon.
I was fortunate enough to get to this, my favorite grove of Ponderosa trees during an active snow storm. During my extensive scouting trips around Central Oregon, this is perhaps the most colorful group of ponderosa trees I’ve found and as a bonus they have a nice composition. If you live around ponderosa trees you’ve probably noticed that they are not all created equal. Some have considerably more reddish color to their wonderful jigsaw puzzle bark than others do. I have a theory about why this is. It seems that the more colorful side of any given ponderosa tree is virtually always the side of the trunk that is more slanted toward the ground and therefore more sheltered from prevailing weather patterns. It just so happens that all of these ponderosas had a slight tilt towards where I was shooting from and therefore they all have exceptionally colorful bark. Because the snow was actively falling while I was capturing this scene, the foreground was well covered giving this scene a very wintry feel.
The next photo is of Benham Falls, on the river trail, near Bend. It was taken immediately after a heavy early season snow storm. My daughter, Emma was with me on this adventure, like many of my other photography outings. There are several things about this photograph that are special in my opinion. First, the fresh snow allows for a wintry look, like all of the winter photos I am especially proud to have taken. I love the flow patterns of the Deschutes, the icicles draped off of the rocks along the river’s shores and the heavy snow laden evergreen branches sagging under their new found burden. I think this image
Central Oregon's Benham Falls in winter.
will make an excellent fine art print because of its various patterns and textures.
The next image in this small snow dance collection was taken in Tumalo State Park, and once again, it was taken immediately after a heavy snowfall giving the vibrant red osier dogwood in the foreground an attractive texture of winter. While this is a simple image, I still enjoy the composition and angles created by the silky waters of the Middle Deschutes River in the background and the ruby glow of the foreground dogwood.
Red Osier Dogwood along the Middle Deschutes River.
Granted, this is a small collection of winter images but hopefully it will give some hope to those of you who crave fresh powder on Mt. Bachelor until Mother Nature can finally answer your prayers for snow.
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