As I mentioned in the previous blog post, I also dedicated a part of my trip to Yaquina Head to landscape photography. Through the marketing channels I have, I felt that landscape images there that contain recognizable landmarks would stand the highest chance of being licensed for a decent fee.

Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area’s gate opens at sunrise or 6:00am, whichever comes later. In the middle of the summer in Oregon, I was worried that this might be too late for great landscape images. Early morning or very late afternoon are the best times for most photography. For the best landscapes one can almost consider this compressed to half an hour before and after sunrise or a half an hour before and after sunset.

We got up at our hotel based on our prediction of how long it would take us to get ready and then drive to the gate. We got there maybe a half an hour early or so. We decided to drive to Agate Beach and take a look around. We then returned to Yaquina Head and got there maybe five minutes or so early, the gate was already open, we caught a break. We then drove to the spot we had scouted the day before; scouting beforehand can be a good practice with landscape photography as you probably won’t want to look for the ideal spot before sunrise. Apparently, Yaquina Head is far enough west from Salem, but still in the same time zone, that the sun was just coming up. The sun had crested the hill behind us just enough that the lighthouse was starting to catch some sun, but the rest of the landscape was still in shadow.

These ended up being, in my opinion, among the best landscape images in my career.

Take a closer look at my images of Yaquina Head. Or take a look at my landscape portfolio.