Cannon Beach - Camera Ready!

After I drove from Seattle and crossed over to Oregon I ended up in Astoria with the Sea Lions, remember?  That morning I continued onward to the little town of Cannon Beach because Linda had shared a post on her blog before about this spot and I had to see it for myself.

Luckily Linda usually includes a few crucial details, such as "park at Tolovana Beach, located on the south end of Cannon Beach."  This is where she parked on her visit to view Haystack Rock.  When she visited it was at lower tide so check out her post to see the difference!

It was a gorgeous day, I had timed it just right for about half an hour of mostly sun, making for bright spots of blue up above those monstrous rocks on the beach.  I kept that shutter clicking as I walked along, you never know when the sun will disappear in the Pacific Northwest!

An older gentleman was walking along at the same time I was, keeping his expensive looking camera cradled in his hand.  He didn't take it out and start shooting until we got to the rocks, at which point the sun was starting to disappear, not to mention the light wasn't coming from the right direction.  What a shame all the shots he missed out on because he was looking for the right "grouping" of the rocks instead of taking the light into consideration.

Here's an example of the lighting condition he faced when he got to where he was walking. I turned around and shot into the sun which did create an interesting effect especially with the group of people who were taking a selfie with the larger rocks behind them.  I had to change it to black and white and do a lot of work on the haze and highlights to clean it up, but don't forget to get those other shots that take advantage of the warm light spilling onto your subject!

As you can tell by the sudden appearance of a watermark on my photos, I'm finally permanently signed up with Photoshop and am trying to take the time to learn the ins and outs which was especially helpful in all these photos due to the haze created by the moisture in the air.  The photo below in particular required a lot of work to clean up, but was worth it in the end!

Tutorials abound on how to do all the tricks, both on Adobe and YouTube.  A quick Google search will help you narrow down what one you want.  I need to go back and have another try at the photo below, if you look closely you'll notice a halo effect around the rocks where I accidently applied the exposure correction with a brush that was too thick and therefore it bled outside the edge of the rock surface. 

But, hey, let's not turn this into a Photoshop tutorial, let's enjoy those beautiful views of Haystack Rock instead!

That's 235 feet of rock that birds use for nesting and humans use for selfie backdrops.  Not many folks were out on the beach, just enough to make you feel like it was a happy place to share with your fellow man, with the gulls...

...or with a dog carrying a stick!

This is the view the camera toting gentleman settled on, he took multiple shots near this spot including a selfie on a smartphone.  Their shots did not include the upside down driftwood, lack of creativity on their part I say!

Off in the distance I really couldn't see Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, Photoshop truly saved that image so I could get at least a little bit of a look.  An incredible story of how the lighthouse began its journey can be found here, let's just say for now that the individuals who started the endeavor in 1879 had to be the bravest men alive!

The stories of the keepers who stayed there are equally amazing, living through conditions such as these: "Storms often brought flying rock and debris crashing through the lantern room and the dwelling’s iron roof, and the fog signal would clog with pieces of seaweed or rock. There were several occasions when the entire structure was flooded with seawater... The cramped quarters, frequent storms, and fog with the ensuing blasting of the fog sirens, often caused tension among the crew and led to the station earning the nickname “Terrible Tilly.” Enraged keepers were known to pass notes at dinnertime rather than speak to each other. Any keeper causing trouble or showing mental instability was immediately transferred from the rock." 

The Lighthouse was decomissioned in 1957 and has been sold over and over to private individuals since that time.  According to the internet (what would we do without it??) the best land views are found from Ecola State Park, which I will definitely visit when I get a chance to return to this lovely area someday.  The lighthouse and grounds are not open to the public to my knowledge.

View from main road through town

I wandered around town a little bit, I'll share that later.  I walked away knowing I want to go back, there are other areas to explore and things to see.  Check out this post of Linda's where she visited Humbug Point at Acadia Wayside and Hug Point at low tide.  

Always leave wanting to come back for more!