On to a bit more current happenings......
This past January NW Oregon experienced three straight weeks of dry, clear skies and sunshine. For a climate that's normally cold and rainy in the winter, this was unheard of! I enjoyed some beautiful sunny days on the ski slopes, and most of the sunrises and sunsets were quite spectacular. So one day in mid-January I took a break from skiing and headed to the coast in hopes of capturing one of those great sunsets.
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| Seafoam on the beach |
The seaside town of Cannon Beach is about an hour's drive from my home, so it's super convenient to drive down there whenever the mood strikes. I packed up my car and was on the road by one o'clock in the afternoon. I figured a midafternoon arrival would give me plenty of time for beach walking before the sun dropped around 5 pm.
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| Quarreling shorebirds |
Driving along US highway 101, which is the main north-south coastal highway through Oregon, I was about a mile or so from the Cannon Beach exit when I spotted some large animals walking across the pavement. A herd of a dozen elk decided the vegetation looked greener on the other side of the highway and sauntered across. Traffic ground to a screeching halt - no one wanted to hit such a large animal. Elk are big enough to total a car (just ask my hubby, it happened to his truck 5 years ago.)
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| A little bird looking for lunch |
The unexpected elk crossing delayed my arrival by a few minutes, but that was ok - it was cool to see such majestic animals so close up. I'd seen photographs of an elk herd walking along Cannon Beach, right in front of the hotels, but in all my visits had never witnessed this for myself.
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| Waves and Terrible Tilly lighthouse |
I finally pulled into the parking lot at Tolvana Beach State Recreation Site. After switching shoes, bundling up, (the wind was cold!) and grabbing my camera gear, I headed for the beach.
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| Sand patterns |
Usually when visiting this beach, I turn north and head towards Cannon Beach's landmark seastack - Haystack Rock. But today, since there was still plenty of time before sunset, I decided to walk in the opposite direction.
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| Love is on the beach... |
I came upon a group of low rocks, sitting just inside the waterline. Seeing movement, I realized that these rocks were full of tiny seabirds. The little birds were brown on top with white bellies. Quick swapping to my zoom lens, I had fun trying to photograph them. The bright sunlight made exposure a bit challenging, but I managed to get a few cute images of the birds. Once home, my bird book identified them as black-billed plovers, but when I posted some photos on Facebook, someone else said they were surfbirds. Whatever they were, I enjoyed watching and photographing them.
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| Found an interesting vantage point |
After my bird photography session, I headed back north towards Haystack Rock. Although skies were sunny, the wind was biting. Despite the cold temperatures, the beach was full of people and dogs out enjoying a brisk walk.
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| Driftwood scattered beach |
The problem with arriving too early for sunset is that one has a bit of time to kill. I walked past Haystack Rock and then turned around to go back. I noticed a public wooden stairway connecting the beach to a neighborhood and decided to check it out.
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| Sun is starting to go down |
The top of the stairs provided a nice view of Haystack Rock and the ocean. I had to wait a few minutes for two women to finish filming themselves before I got an unobstructed vantage. I thought about setting up and shooting sunset here, but in the end decided I wanted to be closer to the seastacks.
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| Glowing between two seastacks |
So back down to the sand I went. By now, the sun was finally beginning to sink. Although my original plan was to make Haystack Rock the centerpiece of my images, two smaller seastacks to the south caught my eye. The sun appeared to be setting in between them.
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| Getting close to the horizon |
That would make a cool image! So I found a good place to stand, far enough away from too many people, and waited. As the sun sunk lower in the sky, its rays began to shine brightly between the two rocks. I took many, many photos of the scene (lots of people walked in front of my lens) so later I had lots of images to choose from.
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| Day's last light reflected on the sand |
Although the lowering sun lit up the sky a brilliant shade of orange, the lack of clouds made for a unspectacular sunset. But it's always nice to be on beach and watch the day end.
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| An orange sky |
With the sun nearly down, the wind picked up, and it was downright frigid. As soon as the sun departed from the horizon, I packed my gear up and began the long walk back to the parking lot. I was so focused on getting back to my warm car that I nearly missed a surprise. Thankfully, a man walking in the opposite direction with his dog alerted me. He said "There's a herd on elk on the beach over there."
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| Elk on the beach! |
In the fading light I spotted a half dozen elk grazing at the edge of the beach. One big female was sitting in the sand, her legs tucked blissfully underneath.
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| Right after sundown, the elk came out to browse |
I thought about switching to my zoom lens, but there wasn't enough light to capture good images. So I zoomed as much as I could with my landscape lens just to get a few photos to prove they were there. Thanks to that man, I now can say I've seen elk on Cannon Beach!
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| Parting shot |
Of course the only downside to capturing sunset on the beach is the drive back on a dark, winding highway through the coastal mountains. But I'd gotten some nice sunset images and finally got to see elk on Cannon Beach, so I considered that a fair price to pay. Hopefully I'll get back there sometime this month for another sunset, and maybe catch the elk herd again!
