Behind The Image- Blog #04- Tumalo Falls, OR.
Tumalo Falls, OR.- Blog #04
Tumalo Falls, Oregon
Yes, I know… It’s been a while but I’m back with more inspiration than ever.
The Story
Let’s kickoff blog # 04 with an epic location known as Tumalo Falls. Just west of Bend Oregon along Tumalo Creek in the Cascade Range, this 97 foot (30m) waterfall roars. Viewing this waterfall in the winter is an entirely different experience. Usually, in the warmer months, you park and are only steps away from the viewpoint, with other trails to hike around surrounding areas. As I’m sure you can guess, the snow in Central Oregon inhibits the ability to maintain the road to the parking lot; so they close the gates at the bottom of the road. This means you have a little bit longer of a hike to just get to the viewpoint. As I parked at the bottom of the road and started the 2.5-mile hike to the falls, 2 feet of snow under my feet, and a layer of ice on the top, I knew it might be a little longer of a hike than usual. Microspikes might have come in handy, but 1 single trek pole gave me just enough traction that I only fell on my ass a couple of times… (I had to share the other one with @miktuck) lol. As I followed the road to the top, the views along the way left me speechless, a winter wonderland some might say. Continuing along the road, a slight gain in elevation resulted in colder, windier, and snowier conditions, leaving me with absolutely 0 idea of what kind of light I would be shooting in at the top, if any. Determined, we finally reached the viewpoint in about 50 min.
The second I witnessed this vista, I knew I’d come away with an image. As I started framing up this view, the sun peeked its head out of the clouds intermittently allowing me to capture some gorgeous light hitting the rock formations. Within only 10 min of shooting, the clouds closed up, and the conditions took a rapid turn. Within minutes, I went from shooting epic soft sun highlights to a whiteout snowstorm. It dumped white flurries to the point where I could no longer get a sharp image. With a total of 20 minutes of shooting, and a couple of photographs I was happy with, I called it quits and we made our way back down the snowy road to the van.
Rapid change in conditions
8:50 AM conditions
8:54 AM conditions
The IMAGE
As the sun-exposed itself through the clouds, it disappeared into beautiful light that accentuated specific elements in the landscape. For example that lovely orange/yellow highlight just to the left of the falls on the rock formation; or the gorgeous line of trees along the top rim of the background just above the waterfall, as well as the layer of silhouetted trees just behind that. Without that little bit of light hitting the scene, this composition would be nothing. Another striking element in this image is the snow. The little bits of white snow scattered throughout the base of the falls helps tell more of a story within the scene; what season, temperature, and overall conditions were like when this image was captured.
Image setting
With the little time I had shooting this location I wasn’t able to frame up multiple compositions. I had to play it safe and work with what I had in front of me. The risk of running around getting too creative, then missing peak lighting was too high. Sure, I guarantee there were far greater compositions out there somewhere ( let’s just act like there wasn’t so I can be satisfied with this image)... I just couldn't miss the opportunity of shooting this epic scene, in beautiful conditions.
Gear used to photograph THIS image:
Purchase this photograph in print HERE
Feedback is always welcome, the comment section is open!
Until next week, happy photographing!
Thanks for reading,
Alec
