Spring in the Columbia Gorge

coscorrosa · May 8, 2010

Some shots from the Columbia Gorge last Friday, the water levels are much lower than this time last year, and about the same as my earlier trip in Februrary, but the green is everywhere.

I hit Eagle Creek (Metlako Falls, Upper and Lower Punch Bowl Falls), Wahclella Falls, Elowah Falls, Upper McCord Creek Falls, and Horsetail Falls. I planned on getting Multnomah, Wahkeena, and Latourell as well but the light got bad and for some reason there were a lot of people out on a Friday afternoon.

#1, Upper McCord Creek Falls:

#2, Punch Bowl Falls:

#3, Elowah Falls (I got soaked!)

#4, Punch Bowl Falls:

#5, Punch Bowl Falls from above:

#6, Metlako Falls (if you shoot near sunrise there's often steam from this waterfall):

#7, A cool fern spotted near Upper McCord creek falls, I had to put on the macro lens for it:

ian408 · May 8, 2010

I love seeing pictures from the Gorge. One of my favorite road trips was through there on a motorcycle.

I think my favorite from this series is PB falls from above. I love the way the water is blurred in #4 and wonder if maybe less DOF might change the look and feel a bit?

Very pretty place. Thanks for sharing these!

cmkultradome · May 8, 2010

Ron-
Love #4 & #2 followed by #5. I guess I love Punchbowl Falls. Will definitely have to put that one on my list when I finally get to the Pacific Northwest.

Stephanie

Eia · May 8, 2010

#4 gives me the feeling that I am walking right in the water - that's my favorite! Oh, the green...love it!

dlplumer · May 8, 2010

All great Ron. 2 and 4 are special in my eyes.

Sexy6Chick · May 8, 2010

These are all incredibly beautiful!

chrismoore · May 8, 2010

Great captures!We probably passed each other on the trails! I also got soaked at Elowah falls but it was way too wet to go up on that bridge so I want a little further downstream. Punchbowl is great, I missed that perspective from above. Nice job!

scole · May 8, 2010

Solid effort (as usual). #2 is a good compromise composition. Wide enough for a sense of the place but not too wide so that it shrinks the falls' importance in the landscape. Also love the use of depth of field on #7. Gives it a bit of abstract feel to it.

I'll be down there myself at the end of next week but I'm gonna try to avoid the usual shots.

squirl033 · May 9, 2010

that does it... i officially have to make a trip to shoot the Gorge waterfalls this year!! great stuff, as always, Ron!

coscorrosa · May 9, 2010

ian408 wrote: »

I love seeing pictures from the Gorge. One of my favorite road trips was through there on a motorcycle.

I think my favorite from this series is PB falls from above. I love the way the water is blurred in #4 and wonder if maybe less DOF might change the look and feel a bit?

Very pretty place. Thanks for sharing these!

Thanks Ian, the "punchbowlness" is definitely more evident from the above view.

cmkultradome wrote: »

Ron-
Love #4 & #2 followed by #5. I guess I love Punchbowl Falls. Will definitely have to put that one on my list when I finally get to the Pacific Northwest.

Stephanie

Definitely, and if you happen to go after a recent rain you'll see a lot of ephemeral waterfalls (some over 100 ft) dropping into Eagle Creek on the way there. It's a fantastic (and easy) hike in.

Eia wrote: »

#4 gives me the feeling that I am walking right in the water - that's my favorite! Oh, the green...love it!

Thanks Eia! I was walking in the water for that shot (not on the water - I haven't perfected that yet). I had rubber boots but still managed to get wet, it would have been worse had the water been running at normal volumes for this time of year.

dlplumer wrote: »

All great Ron. 2 and 4 are special in my eyes.

Thanks Dan!

Sexy6Chick wrote: »

These are all incredibly beautiful!

Thanks!

chrismoore wrote: »

Great captures!We probably passed each other on the trails! I also got soaked at Elowah falls but it was way too wet to go up on that bridge so I want a little further downstream. Punchbowl is great, I missed that perspective from above. Nice job!

When I was there the bridge was OK, but just before the bridge was where the wind was blowing the water. And it was COLD water too. But that's part of the fun of shooting waterfalls

scole wrote: »

Solid effort (as usual). #2 is a good compromise composition. Wide enough for a sense of the place but not too wide so that it shrinks the falls' importance in the landscape. Also love the use of depth of field on #7. Gives it a bit of abstract feel to it.

I'll be down there myself at the end of next week but I'm gonna try to avoid the usual shots.

Thanks Steve! Most of the macro shots I take have low DOF because I like the way it looks. Looking forward to your shots!

squirl033 wrote: »

that does it... i officially have to make a trip to shoot the Gorge waterfalls this year!! great stuff, as always, Ron!

Thanks - it's definitely a great place. I got all the waterfalls on this post (and some that aren't!) before noon and that included about 9 miles of hiking. It's amazing how concentrated they are. Autumn is also a good time to visit, and winter if you can luck out with ice or snow.