Oregon Wildflowers and Waterfalls

The end of June found me in Silverton, Oregon, about an hour south of Portland.  My mission was to photograph wildflowers at the Oregon Gardens and waterfalls in nearby Silver Falls State Park. 

I joined the team from Canon led by famed outdoor photographer George Lepp. 

The first day we set out to capture some of the flowers at the Oregon Gardens.  I am in Arizona and I’m used to hot, but this was hot AND humid, so it took a toll.  But oh my there were some lovely flowers there. 

Days two and three meant early (cool!) mornings at Silver Falls State Park to photograph waterfalls.  Day two of my visit we hit North and Upper North Falls; day three we hit South Falls.

I constructed the tall shot of the waterfall to the left by stitching four photos from top to bottom within Photoshop (you can also do it in Photoshop Elements).    

For photographers, to photograph falls and running water, you must have a solid tripod, like my Manfrotto 190CX3 carbon fiber.  It's lightweight and strong.  You can take photos hand held, but you’ll never get that silky/milky look.  So you also need a neutral density filter to slow the shutter speed.  I used a Tiffen variable ND filter (two filters in one that you can dial up or down the intensity of the filter, or darkness).  It was so misty and humid that I’m afraid toward the end I got it a bit fogged.  I supposed I could call some of my latter photos “art” then.  And yes, it was so misty I had to clean my lens after every shot. 

Another challenge was going down to get the shots.  Why can’t the good shots be close to the freeway?  I’d look down and think.. wow, that’s beautiful.. but what goes down walking… you must come up.  These were some hikes, but it was so darn beautiful I just pushed myself, especially seeing an older gent with a hip replacement and a pregnant lady do it.  I’m sure glad I work out on a regular basis!

My next adventure is to Dublin and south and west Ireland the end of July. 

Until then, keep on shooting!

Jim Patterson

http://JamesGordonPatterson.com

Please Enjoy All of My Photos from Oregon…