Heceta Head might be called the jewel of the Oregon coast, situated on a murderous piece of rock known as the Devil's Elbow south of Yahats. I was last there a couple of years ago and am in the process of building a Heceta Head gallery page for my website and thought I'd share a couple of the images that I'm working on for it.

This first image was shot about an hour before sunset from one of the overlooks on the coast highway about a mile or so south of the lighthouse. This is a full frame scan of a shot taken with a 400 mm f5.6 lens.



After this shot, I went and grabbed something to eat and stopped at the overlook again about 45 minutes after sunset. It was pretty dark to say the least because of the storm rolling in off the Pacific. The winds had picked up and the rain had kicked in... This next shot is a 4 minute exposure, again with the 400 mm lens on Fuji Provia 400 slide film. The conditions wouldn't allow me to get out of the car to set up the tripod, so undaunted, I set it up around the passenger's seat. The front bumper of the car was parked tight against the stone retaining wall at the overlook to keep the car from rocking in the winds. The window was cracked just wide enough to let the barrel of the lens hood "see" out to the lighthouse. Ahhhh the sacrifices that some rental cars are called upon to make!



Hope you enjoy these!

Gary

Guess which one I like better. That bottom shot looks so much like a watercolor. Really nice work. JB

That top pic is fantastic! Great shot, Gary!

Bob

Gary, I have a feeling that you've done much more unusual things than taking photos out the passenger side window.
I LOVE the bottom photo with the blurred waves on the bottom of the rocks.
Thanks for posting!

Gee, Jakers, why would you say that? Just because DaveH thinks that I'm totally insane?

Gary

LOL - you don't want to know the number of times he's become completely soaked to his skin while photographing storms!!

I have wondered what kind of focal length was needed to get that type of shot from the pull-out!

Ned, a 400 mm works quite well from the pullout. It borders on almost being too much if there's anything in terms of wave action going on in the foreground. About 300 mm would probably be a better choice with a 1.4X that you can put on if you want to get a bit closer.

Hey Terry, you mean you're not supposed to get wet when you're out photographing the lights during a gale?

Gary

Not if you don't want to catch a good cold (meaning the opposite as who ever heard of a "good" cold)! BTW, did you manage to change your seasonal change of clothes to something more appropriate for the colder weather yet?