More often than not, travel photography is amazing. On the overwhelming majority of the trips I’ve taken, I come back with hundreds (sometimes thousands) of photos with portfolio shots that I can pull out when needed for years to come. This trip to Oregon I took late last month did not fit into that category!
It started with four nights down in the incredible beach town of Bandon. Four nights; that’s five days, four sunrises, and four sunsets. We missed the first sunset because the drive from Portland took a bit longer than we anticipated. That was probably our only chance. The rest of our time in Bandon the skies were overcast and/or foggy. We didn’t get a single sunrise or sunset with color! Ugh. After that, we drove 5.5 hours north to shoot Proxy Falls; a waterfall I’ve been dreaming of shooting since I first got into photography. When we got there we realized the snow gate on the road up to the trailhead was still locked, turning our 3-mile hike into a 7-mile hike. No biggie though. However, when we finally reached the falls, they were raging so hard that we couldn’t get within 100 yards of the base, and because of the volume of water coming down, all the incredible bright green moss that makes this scene so spectacular wasn’t even visible. Save for some shots from the higher vantage point and a few cool drone video clips, it was a total waste of a day. After that, we drove to Portland and drove out to the Gorge. The fire damage was a lot worse than we anticipated and the one place I really wanted to visit again (Gorton Creek) was hit really bad and was closed. Next, we drove up to Silver Falls where a rare (and stationary) thunderstorm formed right over our heads as we parked at the trailhead.
On one of the final days of our trip, we drove over the border into Washington to see Falls Creek Falls. That day, everything finally came together. I was able to create some video content for you guys and get some solid images. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and enjoy the other aspects of a photo trip like time with friends, good food, and remembering the facts that even if conditions aren’t great for pictures, you’re still out in nature and enjoying the beauty of our world.
Anyhow, in this video I go over a few different shot setups at Falls Creek Falls and on the trail leading up to it. Nothing too complicated going on here, but I’ve always enjoyed seeing how other people set up their shots so I thought you might be interested in seeing how I set up these. A few notes on the video and links to gear mentioned…
- My circular polarizer: https://amzn.to/2knpJD0
- This is a link to the entire kit, but in the video, I was just using a step-up ring and the circular polarizer.
- Garmin Fenix 5: https://amzn.to/2LtXAXt
- I love this watch. I’ve never been much a “watch guy” and this is the first one in my life that I’ve actually enjoyed wearing.
- Garmin Drive GPS: https://amzn.to/2IOCjdu
- Again, this thing has helped me out in so many situations wear cell service is non-existent. To me, it’s one of the most crucial pieces of gear you can have when travelling off the beaten path.
And finally, here’s a couple images near Panther Creek Falls to show the before/after of using a circular polarizer. Pay attention to the upper-left corner, the area on the right above the falls, and the surfaces of the rocks where there’s no moss.
If you have any questions, as always, let me know if the comments below!
