Ahhhhh Texas.
I have such a love-hate relationship with this state.
After spending the first 3 months of 2021 in Oregon visiting family (and kicking off my full-time landscape photography career), I have to admit I was a bit nervous coming back to Texas and worried I’d have a hard time finding great photography locations.
After settling back in, it was finally time to get back out into the field. Luckily, picking my first location wasn’t too difficult. My good buddy had invited me to visit and it just so happened he and his wife lived about an hour from Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.
Location set.
Read MoreNeskowin, Oregon. Winter 1997.
A local legend about a mysterious forest rising out of the ocean comes to life as winter storms wash away massive amounts of sand, revealing 2000-year-old tree stumps.
The Neskowin Ghost Forest, and over thirty other ghost forests like it along the Oregon and Washington coastlines, is a stark reminder of just how quickly nature can change the landscape.
Geologists believe that the Sitka spruce was forest was brought down by seismic activity along the Cascadia Fault, like the 1700 Cascadia Earthquake, then buried and preserved by mud from the resulting tsunami.
Fascinating.
Now it was the target of my most recent photography adventure.
Read MoreMy alarm went off at 3 a.m.
I am not a morning person. Getting up for sunrise is always tough… but 3 a.m. and a 3-hour drive to a location? Damn near impossible.
Read MoreI’ve had my eye on Cottonwood Canyon for some time.
One of Oregon’s newest state parks, Cottonwood Canyon sits on the John Day River in the north-central part of the state.
There is something really special about Oregon’s high desert areas and the rivers that run through them. Perhaps it’s a bit of nostalgia for having grown up camping in the Bend, Oregon area virtually every single year of my life.
I had come across Cottonwood Canyon by perusing the online map of Oregon State Parks and looking for any park that seemed to be somewhat remote. This particular park certainly fit that bill and when I noticed it was on the John Day River I was even more excited for the potential.
Read MoreSilver Falls is one of Oregon’s most popular state parks, and for good reason.
It is the largest state park in Oregon with an area of more than 9,000 acres, and it includes more than 24 miles of walking trails, 14 miles of horse trails, and a 4-mile bike path.
But the pièce de résistance is its Trail of Ten Falls, a 7.2-mile loop featuring ten waterfalls, some of which are over 100 feet tall.
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