nature Archives - Page 3 of 7 - Loree Johnson Photography

Flexibility and good hair days

by Loree | Apr 7, 2015 | Uncategorized

The other day I looked in the mirror and couldn’t believe how dry and frizzy my hair was! How did this happen? Then I realized that I went from a very humid climate to an extremely dry one over the past two months. My hair was screaming for moisture. It was time to get out that leave-in hair conditioner that I brought with me but hadn’t been using because it wasn’t needed. I’ve also been going through a lot of chapstick lately. Funny how I get into a routine and fail to notice when the routine needs to change. It wasn’t much of a problem when my life was pretty much the same day to day. But now that external circumstances change all the time, paying attention and being flexible becomes more important. In fact, I’d go so far as to say flexibility is a key to happiness, as well as soft, smooth hair.

Days End – Black and White

Ever since I arrived here, on the outskirts of Death Valley, it’s been a constant windstorm with blowing sand and dust. I’m anxious to explore and photograph Death Valley, but photos of blowing dust aren’t exactly what I had in mind. So, I’ve been watching the weather forecast and thinking my photo shoot will have to wait for at least another day until the wind dies down. Being flexible will hopefully give me better photographic opportunities, and it gives me time to edit and re-edit some photos from the past few months.

good morning; sunrise; dawn; clouds; upward; outward; sun; rays; island; wizard island; crater lake; national park; oregon; or; scene; scenic; breathtaking; in; and; the; a; on; over; to; of; with; under; above; against; nature; natural; Loree Johnson

Good Morning Crater Lake – Black and White

I’ve been making a mental list of images that I wanted to try in black and white, but haven’t had much time to spend on converting them, which often involves quite a bit more than just desaturating. So, I’ve taken advantage of the bad weather induced downtime to work on some of them.

Moonrise Over the Cable Bridge – Black and White

In the past month, my travel days have been pushed back a few days here and there due to circumstances beyond my control. In the past, this would have caused a lot of stress and anxiety around disrupting the planned schedule. But now I’m learning to roll with the inevitable changes that happen along the way. I figure it will all work out just as it should, so why worry about it?

Takhlakh Lake with Mount Adams – Black and White

And, thanks to the extreme wind, I’ve added to my monochrome portfolio, which I have a tendency to neglect, kind of like my hair.

Yosemite Moon – Black and White

Bird Fest 2015

by Loree | Feb 23, 2015 | Birds, Photography, Wildlife

I’m always amazed at how the universe conspires to put me right where I should be, right when I should be there. I’m slowly making my way to the desert southwest to visit and revisit some places I really want to photograph. However, I don’t want to show up while it’s still winter, and I don’t like to drive long distances without some “stay put” time, so my journey is slow-paced. This is not a problem for me, and it’s actually perfect in many ways. So, what to see and photograph while passing through central California? Well, wildlife, of course! Not only is central California one of the most productive agricultural regions in the country, it’s also home to an amazing variety of birds and other wildlife.

Great Horned Owl

It seems the first three months of my travels were dedicated to getting better at landscape photography, and the last two months have been an opportunity to hone my wildlife photography skills. I didn’t intentionally set out to balance things so well, it seemed to just work out that way.

Prepare for Takeoff

And the opportunities have been amazing! I had the good fortune to experience a rookery up close.

Dancing in the Air

Spotted a rare leucistic bald eagle.

Caramel Eagle

And more herons and egrets than I have seen in my entire life!

Todays Special – Crayfish

And then there are the hawks. Oh, the hawks!

Red-Tailed Launch

When I got here, I planned to stay only a week or two. Long enough to take care of some business and maybe visit a couple of wildlife refuges. The rent per week here adds up to more for a two week stay than the rent per month. So, being thrifty (i.e. cheap), I opted for a month, thinking I could leave after two weeks and still get the cheaper rate. Now, I don’t want to leave so soon! So, it all just fell into place beautifully and I have two extra weeks to enjoy Bird Fest 2015, my own little celebration of the birds of California.

Ibis at Sunset

Once again, thanks for coming along!

Best of 2014

by Loree | Dec 27, 2014 | Best of, Photography, Significant Dates

Well, it’s that time of year and it seems everyone is reflecting back on the year and doing their “top ten.” So I decided to take a look back at all the photos I took in 2014 and do my own top ten list. It was more difficult than I thought it would be to narrow it down to ten. I realized as I was going through my favorites of the year that many are favorites because of the story behind them. I really wanted this list to be what I consider to be my best work as a photographer, regardless of the story. That gave me an idea to do a series of “stories behind the images.” So this post will focus on (pun intended) what I think are my best ten photographs of the year. And I will continue to post travel stories about my adventures on the road. But look for my new series of the story behind the image in the weeks to come. Don’t forget to subscribe to this page so you get a notification by email whenever I make a new post. 2015 promises to be a very exciting year!

And now, without further adieu, here are my top ten images from 2014.

Number 10. Full Moon Over the Cable Bridge

Full Moon Over the Cable Bridge

Number 9. Fierce Eagle

wet eagle; american icon; Haliaeetus leucocephalus; bald eagle; freedon; liberty; fierce; patriotic; patriotism; patriot; raptor; bird; fierce; talon; talons; wing; wings; feather; feathers; in flight; fly; flying; rain; drizzle; overcast; weather; winter; wild; wildlife; nature; natural; tail; predator; wingspan; underneath; under; in; and; the; a; on; over; to; of; with; under; above Loree Johnson

Fierce Eagle

Number 8. Blue Heron at Low Tide

Blue Heron at Low Tide

Number 7. Synchronized Flying

Synchronized Flying

Number 6. Autumn at Lower Falls

Autumn at Lower Falls

It’s no surprise to me that many of these images have come from the last four months when I began my life as a vagabond. Since I began traveling full time, I’ve immersed myself in photography and, as a result, I feel as though I’ve really grown as a photographer. That’s not to say I still don’t have much to learn. Far from it. I hope to continue learning and growing for as long as I live. And I hope next year’s top ten puts these to shame!

Number 5. Egret over the River

Egret Over the River

Number 4. The Catch

The Catch

Number 3. Takhlakh Lake With Mount Adams

Takhlakh Lake with Mount Adams

Number 2. In the Grotto

In the Grotto

And finally, the one image which I consider to be my best of the year.

Number 1. Good Morning Crater Lake

Good Morning Crater Lake

So as another year passes and a new one begins, my advice to everyone out there is find something you love to do and keep doing it. There is no surer way to find happiness and satisfaction! Happy New Year and here’s to an even better 2015!

Movin’ on

by Loree | Dec 9, 2014 | Birds, Ocean, Oregon, Rivers, The Vagabond Lifestyle, Wildlife

With less than a week to go in Waldport, Oregon, I can’t help but look back fondly on my stay here. While I can’t really say I’ve stayed anywhere so far that wasn’t good, this place has been the best. If you ever need a place to camp on the central Oregon coast, I highly recommend a stay at Chinook RV Park. Not only is it a great campground with level sites, clean restrooms, and a great doggie play area, but it’s a natural wonder as well. Right on the Alsea River, just a few miles from downtown Waldport, there is more wildlife to be seen here than at some National Wildlife Refuges I’ve been.

Eagle Launch

The surrounding area is dense with legendary scenery, which is why I picked this location to begin with. There is much, much more here than can been seen even in a month, and I’ve discovered some scenic surprises while I’ve been here.

Ona Beach Stone Vein

Of course, I’ve also photographed some familiar locations. All, while working in or around the rain, which is pretty much the norm here this time of year. Over the years I’ve found that rain can make for some unexpectedly wonderful photo ops.

Light in the Storm

But the most pleasant surprise at this particular location has been the multitude of creatures. Like this harbor seal I spied swimming in the Devil’s Churn at high tide. At first I thought the poor thing must have gotten lost or been washed into the crevice by a strong wave. But, after watching for a while, it became clear that the seal was there because it wanted to be, and it was probably finding something to eat.

Seal Jacuzzi

And, I don’t even have to get in my car to see wildlife. I can walk a couple hundred yards from my front door and see things like this.

Egret Breakfast

I like it here so much, I considered asking my hosts about staying on for another week or two. But, after some thought, I realized that I’m ready to move on to new sights and new experiences. A month is long enough and now it’s time for me to fly.

Gotta Fly

And I also realized that in all my time living in Yreka, I never went on a road trip to Bandon. So next week I will say a fond farewell to Waldport and when you hear from me again I will be in Bandon by the Sea. Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.

Folks, we have an adventure!

by Loree | Nov 13, 2014 | Birds, Blog, Oregon, Rivers, The Vagabond Lifestyle, Waterfalls, Wildlife

I set off on an adventure, and an adventure is what I got! It all started this past Saturday when I went out to take the dog for a walk. I closed the laptop to put it to sleep and took the dog across the road to the park. We had a nice time playing fetch the tennis ball and when I came back I opened the laptop to work on some more photos. But, nothing happened. I tried restarting, unplugging, taking the battery out and putting it back in, and still nothing. I got in touch with Dell warranty support (the laptop is only 3 months old) and they took me through some troubleshooting steps, which were mostly all the things I’d already tried. It was determined that I would need a new motherboard and DC input and they would send an on-site service technician to do the repair–at my RV. My warranty coverage is “next business day” service, but I’m still unclear as to what that actually means. I waited all day Monday, only to find out that the part had been shipped and service would be scheduled for Tuesday. When nothing happened on Tuesday, I sent a message to Dell. I received a message back that the parts had arrived late and service would be scheduled for Wednesday. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the weather took a turn for the worse and the wind began blowing–hard. So, I sat here wondering if the trees around me were firmly rooted and fearing one would come down on top of me. The trees around here are pretty big!

Starvation Creek Falls

After spending the day worrying and fretting and checking the weather forecast, I decided I needed to relax a bit. So, I crawled in bed and read a few chapters of “Walden” by Henry David Thoreau. It helped to put things in perspective and I realized that this adventure wouldn’t be much of an adventure if everything was predictable and comfortable all the time. The next morning, I woke up feeling quite a bit more optimistic. Until I turned on the water and nothing came out. It had frozen overnight due to the cold temperatures and the “brisk” wind. Nothing to do but wait until the sun rose high enough to shine on the water connection and thaw it. That happened around 11 am, which was right about the same time the computer repair guy showed up. At least I had time to brush my teeth!

Autumn at Shepards Dell

With the computer up and running, I could now finish working on the photos I took the week before along the Historic Columbia River Highway. By now I knew that most of those colorful leaves were likely on the ground thanks to the high winds, so I was glad I went out shooting when I did.

There were also some images from Monday’s trip to Beacon Rock and the Bonneville Dam that hadn’t even been uploaded from the camera yet. I had decided to set up my camera for wildlife that day because there were no clouds and the landscapes would be harshly lit. And even though I didn’t see a lot of wildlife on the trip, I did see this eagle near the Bonneville Dam just when the sun was beginning to set.

Sunset Eagle

Today, it’s been snowing and blowing and the temperature never got above freezing. But, at least I have water for now because I’ve left a trickle running in the bathroom sink. Everything outside is cold and covered with white. It’s not one of those pleasant snows, with big feathery snowflakes like you see on Christmas cards. More like one of those stories on the Weather Channel about the epic storm that they’ve decided to name. But, I’m warm and toasty inside my home on wheels with a propane furnace and an electric heater. I have food and blankets and I’m on an adventure! Things can change quickly in the Pacific Northwest!

Postcard from Oregon

So, as I sit here looking out at the snow piling up and blowing around outside, I admit I will be a little sad to leave on Saturday (weather permitting, lol). The Columbia River Gorge is like no place else, and it’s been a part of my adventure I won’t soon forget.