It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year! |
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Happy Holidays, I hope you're well, enjoying life to its fullest, and spending time outdoors. For 2024, I plan to share news at the beginning of each month. So, for December, a mid-month release seems fitting to get things in order. |
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Image Above: An Icelandic Village in Southern Iceland |
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So what's on the menu for newsletter #2? Episode 5: Exploring Oregon Woodworking Over The Holiday Break Arizona Trip Early Next Year Jackery Live Steam at My House! |
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Episode 5: Exploring Oregon |
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Read Time: 1 Minute, 44 Seconds |
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Episode 5: Exploring Oregon will drop sometime in January 2024 - To be announced. If you missed last months newsletter, I'll mention here that I'm taking a break from YouTube for all of December and a week or two in January. Click here to read last months newsletter
Mark Camp and I continue our journey north on US101 as we visit Coos Bay and the surrounding areas. Of particular interest is the Bandon Beach area. With sea stacks rightfully named like Wizards Hat, Face Rock, and Cat and Kittens Rock, I'm sure you can imagine how spectacular these exploratory visits will be and I assure you, they were!
Many of these sea stacks are approachable at low tide, including a cave within a large sea stack (cathedral rock). Like much of Oregon's coast, you must first descend down to the beach, by either hiking, or in this case man-made stairs/ramps. You can roam the beach while in the wonder of these giant upward geological structures but once the tide rises, it's an entirely different sea scape, and the cave within cathedral rock is no place to be.
One thing of interest was the wind at low tide. It was quite audible, but more so, it carried micro bits of sea sand that stung when making contact with your face. This became a concern for camera lenses too, and made shooting very challenging and equipment very vulnerable. I captured the tangle of the wind and sand as they intertwined and ran across the beach. You can visually see it racing in some ghostly-like form, which drew my interest to shoot video over stills. Wizard's Hat was somewhat difficult to find among the many stacks in this area. Several could have been a Wizards Hat, so we had ask a local woman, who then pointed it out for us. Face Rock on the other hand, while it can be easily overlooked as a face if you're not aware, once recognized, you'll never forget its signature shape; a chiseled, well-defined human face staring intently upwards into the heavens. See image above.
On our second visit to Rock Face, during sunset, the marine layer - a notorious layer of low-lying atmospheric moisture along Oregon's coast, pretty much ruined sunset, along with overcast conditions, but then pockets of clouds were penetrated by the sun's mighty rays which jetted down on the countenance of Face Rock. These were moody, atmospheric conditions that otherwise made up for a colorless sunset. I hope to share at least one during the video, but haven't processed them yet. If you haven't watched yet, here's the playlist for the series, including the most recent episode, Ep. 4 South Coast, featuring Natural Bridges. Enjoy! Exploring Oregon Through The Lens Full Playlist |
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Watch South Coast: The 4th Installment of Exploring Oregon |
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Woodworking Over The Holiday Break |
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Read Time: 1 Minute, 11 Seconds |
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Life is all about diversity and experiences. Furthermore, it's about doing things we enjoy. It may be giving back, helping others, hobbies, travel, music... you get the point. There are few things I've dappled in throughout my life other than photography, woodworking and music come to mind. Since designing and building my studio room and desk two years ago, I've had the idea of creating built-in drawers to store all my photography gear and finally finish the room. I'm talking all my bags, tripods, accessories, everything, including storage for additional office items, so we're talking large drawers. This Holiday break lent me the opportunity to shut-down the computer, put away the camera, and pull out the saws! Most of the project is now complete. it was a rather intensive project with many trips to Lowes and Home Depot. Have you seen the cost of lumber lately??
After blowing out the walls on both sides of the fireplace, I began the framing - most of which took place in the the laundry room which is adjacent to my studio. I also built a 10' countertop over my drawers for my wife for her use, which will also double for laundry tasks, and other things that require shelf space. For me personally, there's something therapeutic about the whole process. Measuring, cutting, fastening, the smell of fresh cut wood, the craftsmanship of getting it near perfect. Watching it all slowly to come to life, and finally, being able to enjoy years of use from something designed and created by your own hands. |
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Saguaro National Park, Arizona |
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My friend Mark Camp asked if I'd be interested in exploring Arizona early next year. We are currently discussing a possible itinerary with a small group of friends which may also include Joshua Tree in California, and several NP parks in Arizona. If you know the area, then please share your experiences and favorite locations. Any and all suggestions are welcomed. This trip would be a wonderful change of scenery from what I'm used to shooting, It's always exciting to photograph new places and new subjects - can you say Cacti! More to come as this trip develops. _________ The idea of leading workshops has been something I've considered. I've also discussed this with some close friends and colleagues and other professional photographers who actively run workshops. I plan on continuing my research and consultation from respected fellow photogs. If this is something you'd be interested in, then by all means, shoot me an email. The more feedback, the better. |
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I've been using Jackery Solar and Battery Generators since my trip to Yosemite. Even beforehand. I began relying on them for all my off-grid camping trips and love their products.
Earlier this year, Jackery discovered me on YouTube and contacted me for an interview for their "Jackery Stories", where they feature individuals, like myself, and how we use their green energy generators. You can catch that here: Mark Houde - Capturing Nature Beyond Boundaries Jackery has now invited me to attend a new program they call "Live Stream With Jackery" where they physically visit valued customers and host a live stream to show how customers use Jackery products. The Jackery crew will be visiting me at my house this Saturday, December 16th to host their live stream event at 1 pm. This will be a blast! If you'd like to learn more about these green energy outdoor portable battery systems, tune in and enjoy the event! Jackery will be live streaming the event on Saturday, Dec 16th, at 1 pm on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Amazon Live. Jackery's YouTube Channel Until next year, may you all have wonderful Holiday experiences, Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Happy New Year, and Hannukkah for the couple of days remaining, |
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