2019 Scenic Photos (new gallery)

This year started off with photos of local scenery around the Rogue Valley and the southern Oregon coast, then some great trips to Bolinas, California and Sequim, Washington were added. My return trip to Oregon from Sequim involved driving down the coast during a major storm. A few images from these events are included. Finally in December, a Mavic Mini drone was added to the camera gear, and some images from this are also included.

A new enhanced photo gallery has been added, one that supports mobile devices better than before, and at the same time allows better photo displays on desktop/laptop computers. You should find this a better format, and I hope to start backfilling the previous Scenic Photos with the new format soon. A note to smartphone users… you should be able to advance the photos by swiping sideways now… which should make things much easier.

Evening Rainbow

Spring in the Rogue Valley can be amazingly beautiful. The fields are super green, and snow is still in the mountains. Just to the right of the rainbow, you can see Mt. Ashland (a popular ski resort).

Winter Snowbirds

Just near the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge, were this amazing flock of Snowbirds landing in a freshly plowed agriculture field. The storm clouds behind them add for dramatic contrast.

Spring View from Bolinas Mesa

One of my favorite views in the world. Duxbury Reef is below, and Stinson Beach / Marin Headlands / San Francisco is in the distance.

Bolinas Bay view from Bolinas

If you are in Bolinas, travel to the end of Maple Rd, and you'll see this fantastic view overlooking Bolinas Bay, Duxbury Reef. The actual view is much wider than what I was able to capture here (even using an ultra-wide angle lens).

Port Orford Headlands

Port Orford is about halfway in-between Bandon and Brookings in southern Oregon. The headlands here are easy to get to, but not well marked from the Highway. There are several short hiking trails, and a museum chronicling the history of the headlands (some amazing rescues from the ocean).

Spring Storm Break

A very brief break in a spring storm over the Rogue Valley

Brookings Beach

On an incredibly windy day, I took shelter at this small beach in Brookings. Any other beach nearby you got blasted by sand. The beach is right in town, but has a very small parking lot (most people walk down from above).

Sunset Bay sunset

The aptly named bay is just south of Coos Bay, and is a wonderful place for relaxation and light recreation. There's a lot to explore here, and Coos Bay is just a few miles away for additional recreation.

Old forest remains

At very low tides, you can see the remains of trees that used to grow where the bay now exists.

Fog at Pistol River

Pistol River is just south of Gold Beach, and one of our favorite places for photos, and for walking our dogs. The area is popular with wind surfers, as well as photographers for the amazing rock formations.

Sunflower close-up

The intricate pattern of the sunflower can be amazing. The vivid colors in here makes a great metal print.

Summer Evening Rainbow

A late summer evening rainbow in the Rogue Valley.

Summer Sunset

Taken across our neighbor's field in late summer, the colors really came through in the clouds!

Summer work

Busy bee work in our garden one late morning

Morning at Sequim Bay

I was invited by friends to go sailing with them in Sequim, Washington. This is near the John Wayne Marina in the morning when the air was perfectly still. It's a very beautiful place.

Elk at Sequim

I was doing some exploring one early morning in and around Sequim, and came across this herd of Elk just outside the town.

Early morning at Port Williams

A lovely narrow beach just north of Sequim Bay at Port Williams County Park. It was amazingly quiet here... think I saw only one other person during this visit.

Summer Exploring

Our young Lab puppy goes exploring in the hay field.

Canon Beach Storm

On my return from Sequim, I took the coastal route, which eventually took me to Canon Beach. This famous beach can be extremely dramatic in a storm. Here, I had to shelter myself from 60mph winds and wait for cloud breaks to capture the coast.

Storm Wave

Taken near Pacific City looking towards Cape Kiwanda... The storm waves were huge, and the rock you see there with the wave washing over the top is 80 feet high (look closely and you can see a seagull next to the wave for comparison).

Late Fall Harvest

With the wet September we had, the second hay harvest came in very late this year. It was the end of October when we finally got the hay in... most years it's mid-September.

Port Williams (Sequim) Sunrise

Looking the other way (southeast) along the shore at Port Williams County Park.

Winter Sunset Rogue Valley

Most of the time in the winter, the cloud cover is too thick to allow for colorful sunsets. Once in a while though we get lucky. The town of Phoenix, Oregon is in the lower portion of the photo.

Fall Sunset Rogue Valley

Some of the most beautiful sunsets here in the Rogue Valley occur in the fall, when the storms are still north of us, but the clouds still allow sunlight to get through underneath.

Clearing Storm

One of my favorite shots from the drone to date... The storm was clearing out, and it was just hours before the wind would kick in again making flying impossible.

Winter Storm Clouds

Winter storm clouds form over the Siskiyou Mountains in early winter.

Rogue Valley Farmland

One of the first photos I took with the Mavic Mini (the first drone I've ever flown). This is the farmland between Ashland and Medford.

Mt. Ashland in Winter

Mt. Ashland is the highest peak surrounding the Rogue Valley (there are higher peaks in the nearby Cascades). It is also a very popular ski resort.

Early Winter Snowfall

We're lucky to have access to a neighbor's land that some of us can go for walks on. The entire loop we hike is three miles, which is pretty amazing for one parcel. The snow on the trees give a Christmas feeling to the image.

View of Phoenix (Oregon) in Winter

From the Sunday morning walk we do locally, the view from the top looking south towards Phoenix, Oregon.

Winter Solstice Tree Shadows

Taking photos with a drone makes you think differently than the normal ground based photos I've been so used to. At times it helps to look directly down and see things from a new perspective... in this case the tree shadows in the middle of winter.

What's for Dinner?

A Cooper's Hawk sits on our fence looking at the bird feeder. We get a variety of predatory birds here in the wintertime - Kestrel Hawks, Cooper's Hawks, Red Tail Hawks, and Bald Eagles.