This past week, while visiting the Oregon Coast, we stopped by Tillamook Bay to photograph some sea stacks. We had to walk along the railroad tracks that parallel the Oregon Coast Hwy. (Hwy. 101) and over some boulders to the beach. I am afraid to walk on unstable rocks but I managed to get down to the beach. For our photographs, we were using 10-stop Neutral Density filters to get a dreamy, blurry effect in the water and the clouds. Using the 10-stop filter required long exposures. After about an hour, Moose and the others went furtherdown the beach toward Crab Rock. Not me. I took one look at what they had to walk over to get there, a sea of unstable, rounded rocks, and decided there was no way I would make it with my camera and tripod. My friend Karen stayed back with me. She was not afraid of the rocks but took pity on me, and lent me moral support. The light was changing and I knew if I wanted to get photographs of Crab Rock, I had to get across the foreboding expanse of unstable rocks. I also had a suspicion that there was another, easier, route back up to the road which was further motivation for me. Karen led the way, making sure I was following and offering a supporting arm when I found myself in what I felt was a precarious position. It took me about ten minutes to go 50 feet but I finally made it over those ominous rocks. I set up and started my long exposure (5 minutes 42 seconds) only to hear the “call of the wild pancake” announcement. The morning shoot was over. We were headed to breakfast. This would be my only chance to photograph Crab Rock. Fortunately, my first and only attempt at a long exposure of this rock turned out. I am happy with the result. And, as luck would have it, there was an easier, smoother path back up to the highway on this side of the sea of ominous rocks. Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm f/4 S, Breakthrough 10-Stop ND filter.
