Kiwandas' Adventure

Headed to Cape Kiwanda last Tuesday to try to shoot the sunset through a cave at Kiwanda. The conditions line up only one week or so in the fall and in the spring. There has to be a low tide AND a sunset at the same tide - which any Oregonian will know that is asking a bit much for BOTH on the same day:).

In any case, I haven't really started working on that particular set, but this is from the sunset that night. Scrambling up that huge sand dune and running is not the easiest. Here are two shots from that evening.

Down to Basics

I have been to Tokatee about 6 times (two of which the trail was closed due to severe winter storms) and Koosah a few times more. While the view points are nice, I really never paid much attention of the surrounding landscapes to get down to the bottom. It probably was a combo of time constraints and the weather.

This time was indeed different. Tokatee was actually MUCH easier than I thought. While the standard (and really unless you are crazy like me, there is like 2 different shots you can get) view is nice, I like to get unique shots. I spent about 30 minutes down here, while my buddy lolly-gagged down here for maybe 30 minutes longer than I. I am terrified of heights, and the standard view is like 250 feet up. You can see the "standard" view and the view down below.

Koosah was not on my top 30 falls. Now after reaching the base, it is in my top 10! It is THAT much different from below. It is so stupid easy to get down to the base, that I feel dumb I never even tried to look to get to the base before. Yes the water is actually this color. It is spring fed from a glacier not to far upstream from here. The water is cold, however.

I think I am going to get these printed in metallic for my show this Thursday. Not printed big, but maybe 8x10 or 8x12...

Fridays' Sunrise

So my buddy Brian Kibbons and I headed down south to the Central Oregon Cascades to get to Broken Top and the glacier lake that is at the base of this peak. Our attempt there several weeks ago was a complete bust, as we turned off the trail early - and we got there too late. Gotta thank Mother Nature that the sun rises about 40 minutes later now than it did when we last attempted.

The temperature was already below freezing when we got here, but the wind was whipping through between 20-35 mph. I had to time my shots, as the wind was even pushing around my 15lb tripod. The sounds of the glacier moving was something else!

I will be posting more in the next few hours. We got to the base of Tokatee and Koosah Falls, also shot Crater Lake at sunrise, among other things.

Ordered prints and supplies today!

I know, this post is worthless without pics, lol. Anyways, the day came where I needed to "pull the trigger" and order some prints, matting and backing. Having no previous experience with printing and matting, and this being my first showing of my work, it is a pretty daunting task to get all this ready.

Luckily, I have found TWO AMAZING places that are super friendly. One is local, which is always a plus. I joined Miller's Print Lab, which incidentally owns MPix. Miller's is geared more for the "professionals", while MPix is geared more for the hobbyist. I dunno what category I fall under. While I have not made a dime with my photography, I believe it is good enough to attempt to sell, lol.

So I placed my order today with Miller's. I ordered two 16x24 metallic prints. What I like about their uploading software (and this might be the standard, but since I am new to this process..) is that if the dpi is too low for a certain print size, it will give you a disclaimer. One of the many reasons I would like to upgrade from my 10 year old camera. So i choose a print I may not have originally chosen to be printed big.

The beauty of Miller's is that they usually print the same day, you can follow their progress (much like a tracking number from FedEx, if you will), and standard overnight shipping via FEDEX is included in the price (I think..need to check my account :) ). So I would think by Wednesday I would have these prints on hand.

Next up was matting and backing board. Sure there is the usual suspects; Michael's, Aaron Bros, etc, but their prices are pretty ridiculous if you think about it. Every time I have gone into Michael's to ask for help or prices, they act like i am a burden. So I was looking on POTN (photography-on-the.net) and luminous landscape about matting and basic info, and there was a shoutout (if you will) to documounts.com. Redimats.com was a site I was looking at, but there is a minimum order of $100 on ALL matting, and $50 on supplies. So I was looking at documount, and noticed that their shipping time to Oregon was 1 business day. I investigated some more, and realized they are located in Portland. 14 miles from my place!

Not knowing anything about matting, I emailed them about what sizes I need for a 16x24 print and 13x19. I didn't know what size border I needed, and I received an email back from Judy. She was very polite and advised me that local pickup is fine and you don't get charged for shipping. They will even box up the stuff for you for a $5 charge. Otherwise, they shrink wrap your order up to make it easier to transport!

I called this morning and talked to Judy. She was VERY helpful and walked me through EVERYTHING! I ended up ordering 2 matts for the 16x24. They measure 21 1/2 x 29 1/2 in. with a 3 inch border. I then ordered 6 matts for my 13x19 prints. She advised a 2 1/2 inch border will be a good decision. Next up was the 8x10 matts. They offer a package deal, perfect for art shows and whatnot. It consists of 25 qty 11x14 matts (8x10 photos), the backing and the plastic sleeves! I also ordered 5 small photo stands. While they are like 6 inches tall, they will handle the unframed 8x10s' for display. All this came in under $180. The prints were $64. Now I just need to sell some stuff, lol.

The matting supplies should be ready on the 24th (next Monday). So I am hoping by next Tuesday, I am fully ready for the show. Pictures will be posted of the finished products.

Long Day

On Friday morning (let's say at 12:48am), a buddy of mine and I headed off to Jefferson Park, which is the area right near Mt. Jefferson, Oregon. I have been here before, but from a different entrance that was a bit of a longer hike (7 miles or so one way). In hindsight, we should've gone that way:).

So we get to the Breitenbush Trailhead at like 5am. The road was a rough and slow going 6 mile deal. Took maybe 50 minutes to get from the paved FR46 to the trailhead. No one was here, to my surprise, as this is a VERY popular place.

In any case, we started off in the dark, which is the norm. After a few miles, we reach a rough incline part of the trail. In the daylight, it blew us away at how crazy thing mountain looked and how high it was. It looked like something from a Tim Burton film.

Our goal was to get to Mt. Jefferson for a sunrise, but our gamble didn't quite pan out. She was submerged in a sea of low clouds (fog if you will), and we later hiked the grueling 5 miles into the park. I have NO CLUE as to where we were. We were trying to reach Russell and Scout Lakes, but we ended up in snow fields and many small ponds. NOTHING looked familiar, and I think we were on the east side of the mountain. The fog was crazy and I was getting sick (still kinda sick as of this post), and all I could think of was to lay down and take a nap.

In any case, the hike back was way quick (maybe an hour or so), and we hit up the town of Detroit for some food. I have to say that general store in Detroit (right off of the 22) has some amazing chicken tenders, and it is pretty cheap! After eating there, we heading east towards Proxy Falls. The fall colours along HWY 22 (Santiam Pass) and McKenzie pass are maybe at 70% as of 10/14/11.

We reached the Proxy Falls TH at around 4pm. I had been up for 30 hours straight at this point. I hadn't been to Proxy Falls in quite a while - maybe 2005 or 2006. As expected, there were a few cars at the trailhead. Now don't get me wrong, I like Proxy Falls, but it isn't my favorite falls. It doesn't "excite" me. I don't have an emotional connection with it, so to speak. It wouldn't place it in my top 10 waterfalls. Perhaps it is due to being easy to get to, or that there is really a lot of debris (garbage) in front of it.

After shooting this for maybe 30 minutes (I took maybe 15 shots or so), we headed up to the Dee Wright (or whatnot) observatory at the lava fields at the summit of HWY 242 for a possible sunset. Well, Three Fingered Jack and the rest of the Sisters' area was under the same fog (low clouds) that Mt. Jefferson was under 13 hours prior. I did however run into the guys shooting the helmets of the Ducks and Sun Devils for the ESPN promo. Kinda cool. I didn't realize this until I saw it aired last night, lol.

Here are two photos from this trip. Ironically, my "keeper" rate was quite low on this trip. Oh well, it is a passion of mine and had a good time - other than not feeling well.

PDX Pulse

Got back from Hawaii on Monday and took all of 40 photos, but I knew it wasn't a photo trip before heading there. In any case, I had the "pre-show" meeting for my photography showing. Getting kinda excited for this. Got to meet with some of the other artists and got to pick out my spot for the show.

I also got a domain name (finally, I know) and linked up google apps to handle the email. So the website will be www.dustingentadventures.com and my email will be dustingent@dustingentadventures.com. The email should be live between now and 24 hours.

Anyways, here is the flyer for the event. If anyone is local and wanting to check out this show, that would be sweet to see you there! I am heading out this weekend to shoot something, just not sure what as of this moment. Probably Mt. Jefferson.

Fall Delight

Went to Eagle Creek here in The Columbia River Gorge again with a buddy that moved here recently from San Diego. Punchbowl Falls was under the right lighting conditions to get a shot without the use of filters. I shot this with my Rokinon 85mm 1.4 @ f/16 and ISO 50. I am selling this lens when I get back from Hawaii to help fund a new Samyang 14mm 2.8. They are both the same brand, so I know the 14mm will be just as sharp as the highly regarded 85mm.

Here is the INFO on the art show I am showcased in on 10/27/11 incase anyone is interested.

Pair of Hoods.

Hadn't been to Mt. Hood lately and have had bad luck at Lost Lake the past few times. Had the chance to get there last weekend, and I also got to shoot Trillium on Friday morning. This is what I captured.

Art Show

I am showing my work not only at Guapo Coffee in SE Portland, but also at The Bossanova Ballroom on Thursday October 27th, 2011. Pretty stoked about this, as it is my first showing.

If anyone is interested (or even reads this, lol) in attending, here is a link to purchase tickets and vote for me. There is a bunch of other artists here in various genres, and even a bar if you so wish to drink!