Jay Howard and I ran to Columbia Hills State Park (Washington) Sunday night for a little wildflowering. The skies were perfectly clear, so we waited around for twilight and the first emergence of the stars.
This is a 4-image stack of various exposures and planes of focus: One for the wildflower in the foreground, one for the background, one for the twilight sky, and one for the first emergence of the stars. I purposely left the mid-ground blurry. Why? you may find yourself asking. Well, I had originally intended to have a tack-sharp midground, but in post I decided that it wasn't that important. My foreground flower was sharp, and my horizon line was sharp, but I thought the movement in the midground a) helped to add some dynamic action to the photo and b) worked well with the idea I was trying to express in the photo's title.
Until next time!
Tags: Pacific Northwest balsamroot ben coffman ben coffman photography columbia hills state park columbia river gorge dark flowers long exposure stars sunset twilight washington wildflowers
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Yet another photo from Columbia Hills State Park in Washington. This one was taken just minutes before sunrise. Thanks for taking a look!
More of my photos can be found here.
Tags: Pacific Northwest balsamroot ben coffman ben coffman photography clouds columbia hills state park columbia river gorge lupine spring sunflower sunrise washington washington state park
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On Friday, Mitch Carlson, Jay Howard, and I headed out for a little star photography. Although a good chunk of the state was under cloudy skies, we managed to find a mostly clear area up around Maryhill and Goldendale.
Jay and I lit the structure with a red-gelled flash and an incandescent-bulbed flashlight, for that orange-yellow glow.
Thanks for eyeballin' it!
Tags: ben coffman ben coffman photography milky way milky way photography milky way photo milky way photos milky way pictures stonehenge maryhill washington light painting stars star photography star photos star pictures night night photography orange dark skies dark horse nebula great horse galactic center Astrometrydotnet:id=nova276438 Astrometrydotnet:status=failed
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This is probably my last photo of Columbia River Gorge wildflowers that I'll be posting for a bit (until I get really desperate next winter and start combing through my old files). Once again, this was near The Dalles Mountain Ranch during pre-sunrise. Thanks for giving it a look!
More stuff at my stuffsite.
Tags: balsamroot ben coffman ben coffman photography columbia hills state park columbia river gorge dawn lupine pre-dawn stars sunflower sunrise washington washington state wildflower wildflowers
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One of my goals over the next couple of months is to do a lot more waterfall shooting in the Columbia River Gorge. This is an area I've neglected for a while, mostly because it's so close and easy. You know how sometimes you'll make a long list of stuff you need to do around the house and something like "pick up socks that are on the piano" somehow doesn't ever get done because it's so easy you think you can do it any old time? Well, that's how these gorge waterfalls have been for me.
Anyway, that's changing. Here's one from Oneonta Gorge in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge scenic area. I've been in here around a dozen times, and each time I take less and less care with my gear. On the way out this time, in the armpit-deep section, I actually did a kind of double-stumble over a rock, and my Lowepro bag (not waterproof, just water resistant) ended up floating for a moment before I could lift it over my head again. As soon as I lifted it I could tell that the bag was heavier because it had taken on water.
After a quick examination, though, I was lucky to find out that only a few drops of water had gotten into the camera compartment, mostly through the zipper. The nylon outer portion of the bag was soaked, though. Whew! I think I'll start taking a dry bag with me again.
Tags: Pacific Northwest ben coffman ben coffman photography canyon columbia river gorge green moss oneonta gorge oregon rocks summer waterfall yellow
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