Morning Refresh
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
The Tom McCall Preserve at Rowena is open from March 1 to October 31 due to the high risk of erosion and ground disturbance in the wetter months. The preserve is named for Oregon's late governor, Thomas Lawson McCall, whose commitment to conservation in Oregon remains an inspiration. It is a spectacular location to overlook the Columbia River Gorge and is filled with colorful wildflowers in spring such as balsamroot, lupine and buckwheat.
One early morning in May, I hiked Tom McCall Point Trail and surprisingly found myself alone in the entire wildflower wonderland. With the endless sea of balsamroot and lupine, the area seemed to offer abundant photography opportunities. However, after scouted almost all the spots near the cliff, I realized that finding a fresh group of flowers with a good mix of yellow and purple colors and coming up with a clean and balanced composition with the Columbia River Gorge in background is not as easy as it looks. With multiple attempts, I was fortunate to find a good spot to catch the first light of a gorgeous sunrise kissing the flowers in the foreground. It was quite challenging to capture such a high dynamic range scene with many flowers dancing in the breeze. The final image was accomplished through both focus stacking and exposure blending. I spent multiple hours for the entire processing, because I needed to manually clean the misalignment of the flowers across the stacked photos due to the wind. But the final result is rewarding. This is such a dreamy moment I'll remember for a long while.
Morning Refresh
Columbia River Gorge, Oregon
The Tom McCall Preserve at Rowena is open from March 1 to October 31 due to the high risk of erosion and ground disturbance in the wetter months. The preserve is named for Oregon's late governor, Thomas Lawson McCall, whose commitment to conservation in Oregon remains an inspiration. It is a spectacular location to overlook the Columbia River Gorge and is filled with colorful wildflowers in spring such as balsamroot, lupine and buckwheat.
One early morning in May, I hiked Tom McCall Point Trail and surprisingly found myself alone in the entire wildflower wonderland. With the endless sea of balsamroot and lupine, the area seemed to offer abundant photography opportunities. However, after scouted almost all the spots near the cliff, I realized that finding a fresh group of flowers with a good mix of yellow and purple colors and coming up with a clean and balanced composition with the Columbia River Gorge in background is not as easy as it looks. With multiple attempts, I was fortunate to find a good spot to catch the first light of a gorgeous sunrise kissing the flowers in the foreground. It was quite challenging to capture such a high dynamic range scene with many flowers dancing in the breeze. The final image was accomplished through both focus stacking and exposure blending. I spent multiple hours for the entire processing, because I needed to manually clean the misalignment of the flowers across the stacked photos due to the wind. But the final result is rewarding. This is such a dreamy moment I'll remember for a long while.