The bright colorful streets of Granada make for amazing photography opportunies and backdrops to the friendly people of Nicaragua. The old colonial streets are checkered in colors and busy with locals getting around on a wide variety of things like bikes, horses carriages, colorful buses, and scooters. Unfortunately it was over 105° and very humid while we were there which made it very uncomfortable to work around too much and go into some of the markets for long. I would love to go back and explore the beautiful city some more when it isn't quite so hot!
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Hurricane Ridge, Washington
My first visit up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, Washington was absolutely amazing. The vast number of snow dusted peaks and the deep valleys in between was awesome. I am so used to the Cascade mountains where there is a lot of space in between each peak, it was cool seeing so many mountains so close together! We explored the beautiful ridge and walked through the winter wonderland of a forest. The trees and snow drifts made such unique shapes that it felt like we were in a Dr Seuss world. As we explored the area a storm was building in the valley below as well as above us. It was really cool seeing the storm keep building and growing below us before finally overtaking us.
I can’t wait to go back to Olympic National Park in the summer and explore the beautiful area further. There is a lot to see in the area and I only just scratched the surface!
Elowah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
On a damp autumn day, I made the short (1.4 Mile) hike out through the lush and mossy forest to the powerful 213 ft Elowah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge about 45 minutes from Portland. It can get pretty busy here, but luckily the rain kept some people away making the crowds manageable. The mix of many layers of volcanic rock combined and the changing colors of the leaves and ferns definitely makes for a beautiful area to explore!
Perseid's over Cottonwood Canyon
Last week I went out to Oregon's newest state park, Cottonwood Canyon to watch the Perseid Meteor shower far from any light pollution. The trek out there was definitely worth it! The Milky Way was extremely bright after the moon went down and was perfectly aligned with the John Day River as it snakes through the hilly desert. It was awesome being able to see tons of colorful long tailed and very bright shooting stars in the very dark sky!
Mt Bachelor Dog Sledding
A couple months ago we went on a dog sled ride with the awesome Oregon Trail of Dreams on Mt Bachelor. It was awesome being so low to the ground with the dogs pulling surprisingly fast. You could tell that the dogs loved being out in the snow and on the trail working! It was a great experience and I'm looking forward to doing a longer ride soon.
Freemen's World Cover
My photo from Cape Horn, Washington looking good on the cover of German magazine Freemen's World. I definitely feel spoiled having so many awesome places close to Portland!
Cannon Beach
A couple months ago I had the opportunity to shoot a wedding at an amazing house on the edge of Ecola State Park overlooking Cannon Beach, Oregon. We had a great sunset as the storm began to open up just enough to really get the fog in the mountains to pop out. Was definitely an awesome view!
Diamond Lake
On a failed attempt to try make it to snowy Crater Lake because of very bad weather, we decided to backpack in and camp around Diamond Lake instead. It was definitely not as beautiful as Crater Lake would have been, but it was still awesome to snowshoe in and explore the area in the deep snow. Our hike in was a very wet one, with about 6 inches of snow accumulating our first night and another 6 inches the following day. We had a great time still even with the snow and dug out a nice kitchen area to stay dry while cooking and eating. The heavy snowfall definitely built up quickly on the tent and had to be frequently hit off to keep it from getting too heavy.
On our last day there, we woke up to beautiful blue sky and great visibility of Mt Thielsen, Mt Bailey and even the rim of Crater Lake. Unfortunately the nice weather didn’t stick around too long though and by the time we had hiked the few miles around the snowy lake back to our car it was getting stormy again. It was nice to be able to get out and explore the area in the quiet beauty of the winter. Hopefully we can get down to Crater Lake again and actually be able to make in!
Oneonta Gorge
On a beautiful fall day, we made the hike out to Lower Oneonta Falls. The hike out the gorge was so awesome with the 25 million year old basalt walls towering above on both sides. The water got to just above our waist and was definitely a little chilly. The uniqueness and how beautiful it all was definitely made it worth it!
Latourell Falls
This weekend I ventured out to explore Upper and Lower Latourell Falls, Oregon. It was amazing to see such an impressive display of columnar basalt. The tall cliffs of the lower falls are covered in a vibrant yellow lichen which towers overhead. The water pours off the ledge above crashing down to a small pool and creek below creating a large amount of mist. The mist made shooting from some angles difficult and in some cases impossible. The upper falls are smaller than the lower falls but still definitely cool to check out too. After an afternoon hiking around, and in one case after I slipped on a rock, in the creeks and falls, I left very wet and muddy. It's not a true Pacific Northwest hike if you don't at least get a little wet or muddy though!