Road trip

After a week of joyfully hanging out with grandsons Max and Sam in the 90 degree heat of Bend, I thought a cool ride down the coast accompanied only by my camera might be a good idea.  

I always enjoy taking the loop out to the lighthouse on Yaquina Head in hopes that some sort of magic sunlight will hit it and I'll make the cover of Light House Magazine.  No magic today, just fog.  I was disappointed to see the light was in a stationary mode and I wasn't able to capture it brightly lighting up the fog.  Maybe next time.

As I was driving out, I noticed some plants that I don't recall seeing before.  I saw some of them back-lit and standing against backgrounds of dark foliage so I grabbed my camera and fired away.  Unfortunately, there was a slight mist falling and the dark foliage brought out tiny streaks of the mist droplets as they blew around the plants.  Fortunately, the lighter backgrounds didn't show the mist streaks.  

I headed for Yachats and as I approached Waldport, I thought I'd see how the Alsea Bridge looked up close and personal.  

I was impressed with the engineering components of the bridge, of course, but the really fun part of walking on the sidewalk (way out of the way of the traffic!) was looking down on the variety of birds that were flying under the bridge.  My favorite was the Pigeon Guillemot Cepphus columba, the little brown guy with the white spots on his wings and the crazy red feet.  

After walking the bridge, I went into Waldport, turned right at the stop light (the only one) and parked in a municipal lot with several signs directing visitors to the Alsea Bridge Interpretive Center located at the corner of the parking lot.  

The Interpretive Center is very nicely done and there is a volunteer docent/receptionist on duty when the Center is open.  This would be a nice stop for anyone but the grampa in me thinks it would be great for school-age kids in particular.  

"He ain't heavy. . . . .

My favorite oldest grandson in the entire universe, Max, was going in for surgery so I went to Bend to be there with him.  The night before, I took Max and his brother, Sam, my favorite red-headed grandson in the entire universe,  out to dinner.  I asked them to sit together so I could Instagram a photo to Gramma Judy and this was the result from two well-practised photo-models.  

The next morning, when we all walked into Max's post-surgery recovery room, Sam went right to the head of the bed, full of concern.  

Sam and I followed Max and his parents home and when we got there, Max was already in his room, getting ready to sleep.  Sam stood there until Max finally dozed off.

. . . he's my brother."  

Shootin' Big Bird with a B B gun!

No, no, no, no one shot any big birdies  with a B B gun!  Besides, a Heron is kinda blue and Big Bird, well, you get the idea.  The B B gun, of course, is the tiny lens on my tiny camera, which reaches out far enough to handle most of the objects I want to shoot but for photographing birds, it really is way too under millimetered!

I was on a coffee-fueled therapy run to Fogarty this morning and while looking for new fossils to bring home (JPEGS only, of course) I spotted this beautiful Heron standing relatively near the tide pools.  He/she stood there for a very long time, frozen in thought or whatever before actually moving into a better position to stand out from the floating sea weed.  I watched as the Heron nibbled on whatever it was nibbling on and finally it decided enough was enough and started to fly away.  As it lifted off, it circled back around and flew right over my head.  

The overhead shots are marginally in focus because I had set my lens on manual focus for the tide pool shots and wasn't prepared for it to come right overhead.  Ah, the joys of shooting stuff that moves; no wonder I leave moveable objects to my very best daughter in all the world!  Anyway, I'm pretty happy to have recognizable images of this Heron.

Nye Beach with time to kill

Yesterday was grand daughter Hanna's birthday party at South Beach and I took advantage of being in the Newport area to have coffee and a marrionberry muffin at Stephanie's.  The sun was playing hide and seek but at least it wasn't raining so I walked around Nye Beach, looking for whatever worked in my viewfinder. 

I'm in love with my iphone4!

Judy and I took a rain-soaked ride to Newport today to pick up some items at McWalmart.  Afterward, we headed to Nye Beach and our favorite restaurant, Cafe' Stephanie for lunch.  While waiting for our sandwiches, I took a grabshot of my water glass in Instagram mode.  When I got home, I emailed it to myself and reduced the exposure on the salt and pepper shakers and also reduced the noise.  For some reason I really love this image.  Maybe it's because I'm old and crotchety or it's almost dinner time or whatever, this fast shot of a water glass appeals to me.  So, here it is.  

By the way, my favorite sandwich at Cafe Stephanie is their turkey reuben, served with fresh fruit.  

Fishing Rock

Fishing Rock is located immediately north of Fogarty Creek State Park.  The promontory overlooking the rock is about fifty yards from the small parking area right off of highway 101.  Access to the parking lot is, amazingly enough, Fishing Rock Street.  The promontory is rocky, often slippery, and it would be easy to fall over the edge so parental control of little ones is absolutely mandatory!

When I was there yesterday, the sun was playing hide and seek with me and I was lucky to get a couple of shots that included Mother Nature's best light.  

 I took this shot of the water cascading off the rock during one of the overcast moments and forgot to redo it when the light got better.  I might revisit this image and try it in black and white.

Yeah, I think reprocessing this one in "Tri-X mode" is a little better.  

This is the view from the Fishing Rock promontory, looking north, towards Salishan and Lincoln City.

A visitor/photographer, enjoying a Kodak Moment from the promontory.

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What Fogarty's fossils look like. . .

Together with five other Oregon photographers I am starting my first month of a lifestyle blogging project entitled "What ___________ looks like," an idea inspired by a group of photographers out of Montana.  On the third Monday of each month I will fill in the blank with my own word or concept, and link to the next photographer's blog until the circle is complete.  I hope you take the time to enjoy this monthly photographic journey, and enjoy each of our monthly projects. 

What {Fogarty's fossils} look like

 My favorite place to photograph on the coast is the beach at Fogarty Creek State Park.  A good sunrise brightening up the iconic rock pile is a marvelous sight but the other subjects that get my visual heart pumping are Fogarty’s fossils. 

When the tide is low, you can walk north between the cliffs and the tide pools and find rocks that have been holding tightly to their clam shell captives for something like 15,000,000 years!  

             

                   

Now head on over to my daughter's site and see what she's been up to this month:

Kimberly Teichrow Photography