Wait, wait, wait!

Finished with the sea lions, we were back in the car and I spotted this. Do we just drive away, or is it worth getting the camera out again? "I'll hate myself if I don't take this." Chris is so patient. Thank goodness. What makes the scene for me is the lone crab pot buoy leaning up against the building. And no, I don't carry one around in the car to carefully put in place before shooting! (Although hmmm . . . not a bad idea . . .) ©Carol Leigh

Tourists from San Francisco

After we walked around the fishing boats, we decided to check out the sea lions at Port Dock 1. Earlier we'd seen a TV news crew there and so figured there were probably lots of sea lions about. Well, there were maybe 12 . . . But over on the jetty there were lots of them hauled out plus a big raft of them just floating around with their flippers sticking up out of the water. My lens was too wimpy for distance shots, so I concentrated on shooting straight down on them as they dozed on the docks. In the second picture, doesn't it look sort of like a sheep? ©Carol Leigh

A good day for photography

We went north to run some errands and I had a great time photographing all along the way. From the passenger seat I photographed this guy in a cherry picker working on electric lines and power poles. I used a 70-200mm lens set at 0.3 seconds to create plenty of blur.

Next I used a fisheye lens to shoot an overview of the docks. Not good at all, but definitely different.

And then walking along the docks, still with the @#$% fisheye lens on the camera, this fisherman leaped up and said, "Here I am!" So naturally I had to take a shot. See how the brown pole on the right is curving inward? Fisheye lens. We stopped to talk, asking what the barrels were for, what are they catching? "Liquid gold, liquid gold." Actually, what they're catching are slimey eels, also known as hagfish. (Don't look them up, they're disgusting.) The eels crawl into the openings and can't get out. The catch is then sent to Korea, where they're used for wallets and as an aphrodisiac. Apparently they sell for $20/pound over there.

More to follow . . . although "slimey eels" is a hard act to follow. ©Carol Leigh

Nothing but net . . .

It was overcast but not raining this morning, which is perfect weather for me to photograph a place I call the "fishnet ranch." Big piles of colorful fishing nets are scattered about in a huge parking lot. For me, it's incredibly exciting, sort of like how I used to feel as a kid going to Disneyland.

Last month I was looking at some of my previous photos taken at this location and was thinking that they were all starting to look the same. Does this happen to you? You visit a place over and over and uh-oh, you're not doing anything new? This time, I really TRIED to come up with different stuff.

Something that caught my eye was how dark black the freshly surfaced parking lot looked — wet and clean from previous rains. I knew that by metering off the lighter-colored nets, the black would go even blacker, thus setting off the bright colors. Black + overcast light = jewel-like colors.

So, for me, this is something different. Instead of concentrating solely on patterns in the nets, I included the asphalt. It grounds the piles of nets and helps emphasize color.

Remember the old movie with Alan Alda — "The Four Seasons?" One of the characters was a photographer. And all she photographed was fruit. Finally she had a breakthrough, announcing she was no longer photographing fruit. She was going to photograph vegetables. Methinks this "radical shift" for me might be akin to forsaking fruit for vegetables . . . ©Carol Leigh

Offloading crabs

The boat pulls up to the dock and containers of freshly-caught crabs are lifted out and set on the dock to be briefly scrutinized and then weighed and carted away. That one fisherman seems to be quite enamored of his catch! (Alas, he closes his eyes every time he smiles!) Are these good photos? Nope. But they're photos that, when seen as a group, tell a story of sorts. ©Carol Leigh

Getting in some shots before it starts raining again

It was a good morning. I made a quick stop at the Alsea Bay overlook to photograph the bridge (looking south over the bay at low tide to the town of Waldport) before it began raining. Then it was over to the fishing boats where there were hardly any in port -- 'tis the height of crab season, and someone told me the fishermen are now receiving $1.95 for crab.

A pair of cormorants create a pretty silhouette against bright water. Next, a couple of crab rings sit lonely on the dock. (Everything around and behind the crab rings was dark. I metered off the bright yellow buoy and let everything else remain underexposed.) As I headed back up the gangplank, I stopped at the bulletin board to see if there was anything interesting posted. Found two items I thought worth shooting and I share them with you here.

I then went over to the crab pot staging area, where this time last month it was covered with stacks of crab pots. They're all in use now and everyone's concentrating on pulling in the crabs. More photos to follow. ©Carol Leigh

Boat hull and reflection

Another shot taken on the docks in Newport yesterday. ©Carol Leigh

Blue waters

With freezing rain expected this evening, most of the fishing boats are out at sea, doing what they need to do while the weather's good. The few that are still at the docks are predominantly blue, creating beautiful reflections in the water. In the first shot, it's nice that there's also blue paint splattered on the cleat as well as on the dock, echoing the color in the water. Next, a loon rises up out of the water to shake out its feathers before diving back down again. And finally, a cormorant looks great surrounded by the orange and blue jewel tones of the reflections in the water.

Storms are moving in . . . this might be my last outdoor shoot for a couple of days. Luckily I have all sorts of ideas for some indoor shooting. Christmas cookies anyone? ©Carol Leigh

A quick trip up to Newport

Thursday is our day to run errands -- trip to the library, various stores, and, if we're in the area, a quick zoom around the fishing boats. Most of the boats are out right now, pulling in crabs, re-baiting the pots, and throwing the pots back in, so there aren't many boats to admire/photograph. In the first photo, two boats share the same cleat, and I liked the semi-symmetry of the lines diagonating outward.

A cormorant popped up next to me and, since I had my camera obscuring my face, I don't think he knew I was human (perhaps simply another vertical post) and so he hung around a bit longer than he would have. I liked his silhouette on the water and especially liked how his head and neck are turned, creating a backward line. I purposely left more space on the right to accommodate that left-right implied movement.

And then finally the fishing vessel "Judy" comes into port, loaded down with Dungeness crabs. Whenever I see this boat, I think of you, Judy T.!

During these first three days of crab season, the fishermen are assured a price of $1.75 per pound. A good haul is 15,000-18,000 pounds of crab, giving them a potential gross of $26,250-$31,500 per haul. Where the price goes after these three days, I don't know. Just a bit of crabbing trivia for you . . . ©Carol Leigh

The end of the day

The end of the day. The boats are back, the pots have been set, here's hoping for a good season for these folks. ©Carol Leigh

Art Deco

Before walking onto the bridge to photograph boats, I took a few quick photos of the architectural detail on the north bridge abutment. The bridge was built in 1936 and the sweeping Art Deco details are fantastic to photograph. You can click here for more information about this bridge, which, by the way, just received a grant so that it will be lighted at night. Hoo ha! Should be done next year, I hear. ©Carol Leigh

Crabbing season has begun

Crabbers can begin setting out their pots today, but can't begin pulling in crabs until (if I recall correctly) December 3rd. So after midnight last night they were out there, little lights bobbing on the horizon, doing their thing. I walked out to the middle of the Yaquina Bay Bridge this morning, hoping to photograph a few stragglers heading out, boats loaded down with pots, but the only boats I saw were the ones coming in, having dropped their pots and perhaps coming back for a second load.

Here you see the Delma Ann coming back into port and then the Golden Dolphin (not a crabber) heading out. Hate to say it, but the guy at the stern of the Delma Ann looks suspiciously like he's taking a leak . . . But nope, my telephoto lens as the boat got closer indicated nothing flashing as the boat "whizzed" past . . . ©Carol Leigh

Thirty-five minutes on the docks . . .

Taking advantage of a brief break between storms, Chris and I headed up to Newport to the library late this afternoon. The light was so pretty, we stopped at the docks so I could take a quick swing around. Everybody's gearing up for crabbing season, which begins after Thanksgiving, and pots are all loaded up on a lot of the boats. I shot an overview of the scene and then moved on.

I'd forgotten about the Helen McColl. This very old wooden fishing boat sank a few weeks ago. All we can see are her masts sticking up out of the water.

A red-necked phalarope (thank you, Bruce K. for the I.D.) was swimming about in the reflections. Man, these guys are fast. All I had with me was an 18-55mm lens, so I couldn't zoom in tight on him, but I still like the look.

And then I can't seem to stay away from these colorful fenders, and this one, hanging down from the deep orange-red Miss Berdie, looked particularly luscious.

Good light. No rain. Lots of color. Exhilarating! ©Carol Leigh

Rain clouds heading north

Taken through the windshield of our car as we head south over the Yaquina Bay Bridge in Newport, Oregon. A shutter speed of 1/640 second ensured everything remained in focus. ©Carol Leigh

Running errands

Today was our usual "errand-running" day, and yeah, I had to check out the fishing boats. The skies were overcast, so I knew that the colors would look good. It's also getting close to crabbing season, so over in the crabpot staging area, I knew that there would be piles of buoys all over the place. Aah! This is what I love about living here. A trip to the library and the store, and look what I come home with! All photos taken with a 28-135mm lens and a polarizing filter. (Because even though the skies were overcast, there can still be glare on shiny stuff.) ©Carol Leigh

A trip to the aquarium

We had a houseguest yesterday and so took him to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Alas, the puffin exhibit is being worked on and is closed (sigh . . . it's my favorite exhibit), but we found lots of other things to shoot, such as this sea nettle, an egg yolk jellyfish, and a lionfish. Is it possible to "connect" with a fish? This lionfish and I had a thing going on, I swear. He was probably just admiring his reflection in my lens, which was why he was following me about. Unrequited love. ©Carol Leigh

On the docks again . . .

Thursdays are sort of our "errand" day and as we venture out, I try to always visit the fishing boats, even if it's just for 15 minutes or so. (I'd be foolish not to, right?) We had great clouds today, so I took a few overviews as well as taking my usual abstract weird stuff. Rain's expected this weekend, so a "sun fix" today was definitely in order. ©Carol Leigh