Black Reign
Oregon · USA
Incessant rain and mercilessly cold mist conspired against camera and common sense to make photography quite the challenge on this typical Oregon fall day, but they couldn't come close to dampening our spirits as TJ Thorne and I had the extreme privilege and pleasure of accompanying insanely talented Aussies Ryan Ennis and Rod Thomas during one day of their whirlwind tour of Oregon and Washington. They proved to be even finer company than I could have anticipated, being as courteous, generous, and genuine as they come. Rod and I had been in contact for weeks leading up to the trip as he bounced location ideas off of me, and I'd known he'd long been licking his chops at the prospects of laying eyes upon 92-foot Abiqua Falls and the fantastic columnar basalt amphitheater into which it pours. I was worried that the rather obnoxious shooting conditions would rain on his proverbial parade, but by his accounts the falls didn't disappoint. It's always fun to see what images result after three über-talented artists (plus me) prowl and peruse every nook and cranny of a particular locale--coincidentally, not the first such experience for me to transpire at Abiqua--and after exploring Ryan's work for the first time I knew the collective results could be pretty special. How a guy of his prodigious talent has escaped my radar up till now I'll never know, but better late than never, I suppose. By the way, Ryan, I know you're hopelessly in love with the Microspikes, but I'd advise taking them off before going through airport security...
In any case, this image will be my representative submission for the rainy day's efforts (I'll link to the others' images if and when they come). The intrepid trio went full-speed and donned waders or dry suits to give themselves ready access to the bone-chilling water, whereas I felt it my moral obligation to uphold the unsurpassed reputation for wussiness I've worked so hard at all my life to cultivate, staying as dry as I could possibly manage by keeping my boots a safe distance from the water. In fact I did creep down right to the very edge of the lapping pool to try to compose some shots just left of where this one was taken, but I ultimately bailed before I could really nail the comp I was going for when I started getting cold feet. Literally.
All in all, then, it was a tremendously entertaining day (having to learn the meaning of the Oz term "budgie smugglers" notwithstanding...). And how do you top off a killer day hanging with some killer company and shooting a killer falls? Why, by scarfing down a Killer Burger, naturally.
Fun times, boys. Hope we get a chance to do it again soon.
