Late Pictures of Fall Color in Central Oregon
As is usually the case I made a long list of fall color images that I wanted to capture this year and time flew, weather was uncooperative and I missed many of my dream shots but did get some Oregon fall color photos worthy of sharing. The following group photos have little to with one another aside from the fact that they are all from Central Oregon’s High Desert vicinity. In general, I didn’t find this fall color season to be remarkable. The early snows dampened expectations but some late color did burst out, especially in the riparian areas of lower elevation. The first group of photos is from a location where I’ve never gotten any worthy images and frankly This fall offered the best color I’ve ever seen along the Crooked River. These images are from the Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint, which is located where Highway 97 crosses the Crooked River North of Terrebonne, Oregon.
Fall color in the riparian area along Central Oregon's Crooked River.
According to my keen recollection of American History(and the big sign in the parking lot) Peter Skene Ogden was working for the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1825 when he led the first recorded journey into the Crooked River Basin not far from the current Crooked River Bridge. I presume that is why this viewpoint is named after Ogden rather than something catchy like “Pacific crest Stock Scenic Viewpoint”! The yellow fall colors were more vibrant than I’ve ever seen in this location and the reds weren’t bad either! The rock pattern also helps with this otherwise simple image. Facing in the opposite direction and downstream, the Crooked River Canyon carves a deep serpentine path through 300 foot tall basalt cliffs. Some great clouds, the distant Black Butte, and the previously mentoned fall color make this a worthy photograph.
The Crooked River carves its way through basalt cliffs with a distant Black Butte in this photo
Looking back upstream from the same Crooked River Bridge which is closed to cars but open to people( this made me nervous at first!) One sees the obvious yet attractive Rex T. Barber Memorial Bridge. Rex was something of a Hero during world War II. He was born in nearby Culver, Oregon and was drafted into World War II. Rex T. Barber was an ace fighter pilot who is widely credited with shooting down and killing Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto who was the planner of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor thereby initiating WWII. In other words, Rex really was a hero. Rex served in the military for 20 years and after a very successful stint flying P-38 lightnings, he was eventually shot down over China. He survived the crash and five weeks later he was escorted back to allied forces by Chinese civilians. Rex returned to Central Oregon after the war where he was an insurance agent, judge, mayor of Culver and a huge civic booster. I don’t usually get moved by these Memorial plaque tales by this one really was somewhat touching to me. I also am hesistant to include man made objects in my landscape photographs, but for Rex T. Barber I’ll make an exception. Below is the handsome Rex T. Barber Memorial Bridge high above the Crooked River canyon and it’s luminous fall color.
Picture of the Rex T. Barber Veteran's Memorial Bridge high above the Crooked River Canyon, in Central Oregon
Another High desert Photography favorite , Smith Rock State Park also had some great fall color this year. Below is an attractive sunrise casting a delicate pink glow on one of the main rock formations at Smith Rock. It may not be as stunning as Troy’s sunset image from this same location found in this blog entry Smith Rock Photos but the delicate predawn light works well with the fall color in the riparian areas at the base of Smith Rock’s massive rock formations.
Picture of early morning light at Central Oregon's Smith Rock State Park
Slightly to the North of this scene lies the famed Morning Glory wall and “the Dihedrals”, favorites of rock climbers around the world. I’ve been to the morning glory wall area many times but I’ve struggled with lighting there. The following image of the Morning Glory Wall and the dihedrals with fall color and cumulous clouds makes for a good stock photo.
Photo/Picture of Morning glory wall and the dihedrals at Smith Rock State Park
On the same pleasantly cloudy day I shifted over a touch and took an obligatory photograph from the main viewpoint at Smith Rock State Park. Normally I avoid this spot as it is a bit cliched but I couldn’t resist because of the great clouds that were floating above the scene.
Picture/Photo from the main viewpoint at Smith Rock State Park
Finally We’ll leave Smith Rock behind after one more image. This rock formation is referred to as “the Monument” Stunningly vertical, is calls to some like no other rock formation in Central Oregon. I merely think of it as the scene that launched a thousand psychiatric evaluations for my Pacific Crest partner, Troy. To learn more about Troy’s struggles, visit this previous blog entry. Smith Rock Photo phychosis. It’s a good shot but mostly I included this image in this particular blog entry in an effort to torture Troy. He’ll be back at the monument later today nervously composing scenes and incoherently mumbling to himself like Milton in the classic movie, “Office Space”.
Troy's Folly, sunrise light on the monument at Smith Rock State Park
I’ve included this next and final photo of aspen trees with some great color not so much because I love the image but because I felt obligated to mention it. I’ve been there so many times that it feels like a distant cousin who I feel obligated to invite to Thanksgiving dinner because they live two blocks away. Anyway, here are my distant cousin aspen trees!
Central Oregon aspen trees in full fall color
If any of our blog readers have fall color suggestions for next year please let us know. For some of our other fall color images, please visit our main Pacific Crest website by following the following link Pacific Crest Images . Thanks for visiting our photo blog!
All the Best,
Mike Putnam
The Best Smith Rock State Park and “Monkey Face” Photos You’ve Never Seen!
OK, I know that the title of this blog entry doesn’t totally make sense, but hopefully you get the idea. We’ve recently taken some new Smith Rock State Park Photos that I’m very proud of and we haven’t been able to find a simple way to fit them into our blogging schedule. These images haven’t ben shared with the public and therefore they’ve never been licensed and seen in print. I strongly suspect that you will soon see some of these images in local ad campaigns and tourism offerings as they are great pictures of a special and unique Central Oregon Location. First I’ll start with a couple of my images.
Photo of Smith Rock State Park, the Crooked River and the "Monkey Face" rock formation
For quite some time now I’ve wanted to add a “Monkey Face” photo to my fine art print collection. The above image is definitely my best effort to date. I plan on printing it in a large format version and adding it to my fine art offerings. Mike’s Fine Art Prints I’ve seen hundreds of different Monkey face images but most offer washed out noonday light and plain blue skies. Those are fine for snap-shots but not for fine art prints or great stock images. I knew I wanted a shot with interesting clouds and warm late evening light. I also got the Crooked River in the scene as a bonus which adds another attractive element. The above image was captured with my large format 4×5 camera in hopes of making it into a fine art print. I also shot many other great images on that beautiful evening with my canon 5D camera. The following picture is a closer view of Monkey Face with some interesting cloud formations to liven up the scene.
Monkey Face and evening light from Smith Rock State Park in Central Oregon
On the enlarged version of this photo, you can actually see climbers in the mouth of “Money Face”. Cool! I like how my relatively wide angle lens slightly distorted the scene giving it an abstract feel. I also like how the hiking trail in the foreground leads the viewer to the base of Monkey face.
The following Smith Rock State Park picture was taken on a different evening but helps to show the diversity of our Smith Rock portfolio. I took the following shot at the end of a long photography day during which I chased clouds all over Central Oregon.
Picture of Smith Rock State Park at sunset
It may have been good fortune that allowed me to catch this scene with the colorful cloud formation hovering over Smith Rock’s summit but I certainly don’t mind being lucky! I’ve seen countless photos taken from the viewpoint at Smith Rock, most of which are uninspiring, but I couldn’t resist on this evening.
Now for the grand finale of our mini Smith Rock State Park tour. I’d like to give you a preview of what I predict will be the next great cover shot for the Central Oregon tourism industry. My good friend, Troy McMullin took the following outstanding Smith Rock State Park photo. I think it might be the best Smith Rock photo I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen thousands of them! I’ll be very surprised if it isn’t licensed for a cover shot in the very near future, and whoever licenses it will have the good fortune to associate themselves with this stunning image.
Smith Rock Sunset photo with the Crooked River in Central Oregon.
There are countless reasons why I think this image makes a great landscape photo but I’ll just cover a few of them. 1. Great subject matter. Smith Rock is veery recognizable and obviously stunning. 2. excellent composition. 3. lots of interesting elements including the impressive rock formation, awesome clouds, great color in the sky, the gently arcing Crooked River below and the distant South Sister to the left of the rock formation and Mt. Jefferson to the right. Wow! Like I mentioned, I’ll be very surprised if this image isn’t licensed in the near future. Please leave any comments in the comments section at the end of this entry, and don’t forget to tell your photo editor and graphic designer friends that you’ve just seen the next great Central Oregon cover shot! For some more great Smith Rock State Park Stock Photos, please visit our new Smith Rock gallery at Pacific Crest Stock.
Posted by Mike Putnam
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