Saturday, June 7, 2014

A Road Trip to Remember: The People

Rock Climbing Class

A recent road trip to Central Oregon allowed me a chance to not only connect with friends and photograph some beautiful landscapes, but also photograph some people, most of which were hanging/climbing 50 to 100 feet in the air on the face of Smith Rock.

While I myself do not climb, I have a mix of a great of respect and absolute confusion for those that do. For myself, I have a great dread of heights that is based on personal experiences in my past. My fear of heights is so bad, that when I get close to edge of something like Smith Rock, or lets say Crater Lake, it takes all my energy to not throw up.

But beyond that, the main reason I have never pursued rock climbing is that I lack confidence in my ability and in the safety of the gear to be successful in this particular endeavor. And in this particular case, if you are aren't successful, you are likely dead or possibly even worse, wishing you were dead.

With that said... enjoy the photos.

Reaching

Scaling Smith Rock Face

Example of Smith Rock Scale


Resting on the face of Smith Rock



Out of the Darkness on Smith Rock

Climber Explaining His Passion




Friday, June 6, 2014

A Road Trip to Remember: The Landscapes

Smith Rock

Last weekend I embarked on a road trip with some friends to Central Oregon.We explored several different locations including, Smith Rock, pictured above, the Head of the Metolius River, Crooked River Gorge and the Three Sisters viewpoint pullout. Each location provided distinct terrains and unique photo opportunities and all were within thirty minutes, or less, of each other and most importantly, each provided us a chance to bond not only as photographers, but as friends.

I am finding personal interactions much more important today than I did even just a few short years ago. I am finding social media and technology platforms like mobile technologies (texting, email, etc.) a very dissatisfying experience these days. This reinforced in me the importance of putting down my phone, tablet, computer, etc and look up, look around and connect with people face to face. Thanks Rick, Shawn and Matt for inviting me to be a part of this extremely awesome day.

Enjoy the photos below.

Mt. Jefferson Over the Head of the Metolius River

Jefferson National Forest

Smith Rock

Smith Rock

North Sister Viewpoint from Smith Rock

Crooked River Gorge

Three Sister Viewpoint