I'm a Happy Photographer!

I've been noticing these things for a while but my trip to Oregon and Washington last month really brought them to the forefront of my senses. So what else can I do but write about them!

Elmer and I at Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona

One of my initial goals of taking up photography as a hobby was to get outdoors instead of sitting at a computer all weekend. I normally work Monday through Friday as a software engineer, sitting at a computer all week with very little interruption.  For many years my weekends were filled writing and recording rock and roll songs (http://www.RandyMorter.com/music) which was mostly sitting at a computer as well. In 2013 I decided I had to make a change, and decided to take up landscape photography which would include camping and being away from a computer.

Over the last couple of years I have certainly achieved that goal. I’ve spent most of my weekends out taking pictures, and a lot of those, perhaps about half, have included camping or “moteling” (of which I prefer the camping unless the Arizona temperatures make it too warm to get a good night’s sleep!).

Some benefits I’ve reaped are that I’ve lost a few pounds, I’ve met some people, I’ve got some photographs that my wife wants hung on the walls, I’ve had a lot of alone time with my pup Elmer. But there have also been some benefits I hadn’t expected or dreamed of…

While driving along the Oregon coast on my vacation, especially when driving along roads I’d driven many times before, I found I was noticing things I had never taken the time to notice or appreciate. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve driven the coast from Coos Bay to Lincoln City when my wife and I lived in Coos Bay and drove up the coast to get our children for our weekends (from our ex-spouses). What I can tell you is that those trips were almost entirely done with the purpose of getting from point A to point B and back again without absorbing the scenery to any great extent. Note that some trips were made from Coos Bay to Interstate 5 and up to the Portland area but with the same lack of attention to the scenery.



Alongside the Coquille River, Oregon

On my vacation in August 2015, I found almost the opposite. I truly did not have much of a deadline for the days I was on the coast. I arrived in Coos Bay on Monday and did not have to be anywhere particular until that Friday when I had a high school reunion event. According to Google Maps, along the coast that is only 472 miles, taking about 10 hours. I didn’t think I’d have any problem covering that distance in 4 or 5 days.

I actually planned my first couple of days on the coast with short driving distances between my sleeping areas, and then the day that I would be driving into Washington was longer since I knew there wasn’t as much in southwest Washington that I thought would be photogenic (the roads are inland and mostly tree lined and I've driving that road a few times before). That meant on the Oregon coast I had about 100 miles or less to drive each day and all day to do it.

As I drove up the Oregon coast I found I was looking at the scenery with an eye towards looking for photogenic scenery. I had that thought in my head, but it also dawned on me how much beauty there was almost every mile of the drive. I wanted to stop and take pictures of everything! I felt like I had wasted all of my earlier drives along the highway by not soaking in the beauty as I blindly whizzed by, more concerned about making time than lifelong memories and appreciation of the Oregon coast.




Driftwood Beach Wayside, Oregon

I pulled off in a lot of waysides, rest stops, parks, etc.  Not as many as I would have liked to, but enough to fill up my travels so that I didn’t waste much time at a campground. The night after leaving Coos Bay (okay, actually Charleston), I didn’t get to the campground until after dark and I left at first light.
I looked at things from different angles and vantage points, driven by my desire to find a good photograph, but with the added result of noticing more about the various locations.

For example, at one place I found a cool stump with some great exposed roots. I was moving around the root system looking for angles that would help bring out the structure. By doing that I was noticing the structure in much more detail than if I’d been walking by it without any desire to take a photograph.

When I was at Oceanside and shooting the Three Arch Rocks at sunset, I found myself looking through the viewfinder, noticing things in the composition, and then looking around without the viewfinder to see how I might improve the shot. I was taking in much more detail than if I hadn’t been looking for something to include or exclude from the shot. I was noticing how the reflections were playing on the shore, where the sun was in relationship to the rocks, how I could walk out on the sandbar. If I’d been sitting in my car I wouldn’t have noticed those things.

Sunset at Seal Rock, Oregon

When I was at Seal Rock, again trying to shoot a sunset, I did the same things as at Oceanside. However, the sun just kind of fizzled out. But because I really wanted to try to get a good picture, I waited and watched as the sun completely set, watching as the beach turned from light to dark, as the sea gulls changed from white to black silhouettes flying against the orange sky. I saw the colors change in the pools of sea water on the beach in front of me. I noticed that it got a bit cooler after the sun went down. I noticed that there were very few other people left on the beach after it got dark.

The bottom line was that I NOTICED. I absorbed. I was involved. I was in the moments. I was a living part of the planet and conscious of it.

I was happy.

As I write this a few weeks afterwards, I find I have a longing to be back in a similar situation. It doesn’t really matter where I am, just somewhere besides behind a computer. I want to breathe in the smell, hear the sound, and see the sights of life on the planet. And just maybe, at some point, I’ll be able to get in touch with the planet enough to create some photographs that capture some of what I experience so that I can share it with others.