Freeze/Frame
OK, OK, the Gorge is gorgeous and all that - and I love it as much as the next guy, but come on! You’d think that going up to see the flow of water and ice on a Thursday morning might be a quietly scenic respite, but think again…more like Disneyland for rabid, touristy amateur nature photographers, out in droves. Sure I brought along my trusty SLR, and touted it wisely to point-and-shoot at those amongst us, like deer caught in headlights. The stunning Oregon backdrop was awfully pretty, but the ooglers, smokers and crying babies counterbalanced the sightlines in a clash between the Eddie Bauer-clad and SUV-strapped soccer moms. And it was capital C cold today! The wind chill at Vista House alone had my friend Lyn and I out of the car and back again in less than five minutes.
Maybe it was just something randomly adrift in the air, but my personal GPS spied one too many tripods, super-sized wide-angle lenses and cellphones standing at attention today. Perhaps its simply the filter the camera suggests, the separation between you and IT. Well, there is a humor in it too. The gaze and allure of spectacular, wild nature, its wrath and in its wake. The crystalization of our resources in all its stop-action glory. Who can blame ‘em? Next time I’ll remember gloves for my nimble digits!
Tags: amateur photography, Bridal Veil, Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls, Oregon, Vista House, waterfalls