Oregon Coast Road Trip (back from blog hiatus)
It’s been two months, and I finally feel like I have the time to update. Sorry to all readers who I’ve left hanging out to dry for the last couple months, but I’m back and I’m ready to post some cool stuff from the last few months. Starting with my trip down the Oregon Coast. For this trip I shot two rolls of Velvia 100 / 120 size on a Yashica 124 G, and everything else on my trusty s90. All of the pics you’ll see on this post come from the s90, still churning out winners even going on 2 years old.
On a quick side note, I’m trying a new theme (thanks Mike for the tip-off), and I’m going to try to keep it fairly minimilist. This hopefully will accomplish a few things. First, it’ll keep posts shorter. This means the blog gets a cleaner, simpler look, and hopefully the writing is better. After writing news for a few months as an intern at a small paper in Seattle, I’m learning the value of conciseness. Second, I’m hoping it’ll encourage me to post more frequently. I want to keep this mainly a photo blog, with more photos and less words.
For the full set of pictures check out my flickr.
So, Oregon. A three day road trip, with the first stop in Portland.
Portland
The MAX train runs through downtown
At Rogue Brewery
A Sprinkler makes this rainbow on my morning run
At the Saturday market
Japanese Garden
I managed to find time to hit up the Japanese garden. It was – in a word – serene. They even convinced me to sign up for a student membership.
Brilliant light backs the traditional gate and maples
The Portland garden is supposedly the most authentic garden outside of Japan – and it certainly had some of the same serenity that I’ve come to expect, and relish, from visiting Japanese gardens, temples, and shrines.
A waterfall enveloped in green - so peaceful
The sun shines down on the central stone garden
To the Dunes, Route 101
After spending a day and a half in Portland we moved down to the dunes near Florence, OR. The drive, down highway 101, was nothing short of spectacular, with viewpoints all along the coast. Some clouds had moved in mid-afternoon, but broke towards evening.
Heceta Head Light House
A huge flock of birds gathers as waves pound the rocks
A mix of lighting shows all sides of the coast
Golden afternoon light floods through a small break in the clouds
Oregon Coast Aquarium
The next morning we headed back north a bit to Newport to visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
The ocean is all around
Clockwise from top left: Sea lions sunbathe; the popular otters frolic in their pool; aquarium silhouette; a Japanese spider crab is missing a leg
Two jellyfish dance in a sea of azure
Dunes sunset
After taking a breather back at the hotel in Florence, I ventured out to find a good sunset spot. Luckily I found a trail that was still open despite it being close to 7 pm. What awaited me:
The sun sets into the ocean at the Taylor Dunes Trail
The sky lights up a fiery orange as the dune grasses slowly sway in the winds
Twilight over Taylor Dunes
Headed home
Finally, a few more snaps from the journey home, back up 101.
Dramatic cloud cover over Florence and the dunes
Waves lap at the ocean shore
Sunset at the last rest stop along I-5
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, and please let me know how you like (or dislike) the new layout, especially if you think the pictures are too big, or just right. Thanks for reading, see you next time!
Brian Chu Photography 