On Assignment: Eugene, Oregon-Day Two

"Pacific Mood" by Wes Aldridge

Today the weather was disgusting. The sky was a blanket of gray. The rain poured without end. The wind blew cold and fierce. The locals said it was a normal May day in Eugene, Oregon. The photography for today was nothing near beautiful, so I decided to pull another shot from yesterday at Cannon Beach to share.

This is a different vantage point from up the shoreline a little farther on a lookout point called Ecola State Park. This shot shows what the previous one didn't: the weather was terrible yesterday too. I love the mood set into motion with the dark gray fog and clouds hovering over the mountainside. I was lucky enough to catch a beam of sunshine hitting the rocks in the foreground of the shot to bring them to life and pull them from the dreary background. You can see where the light cut through the bleakness and hit the water turning it a beautiful blue. And at the right second, the decisive moment, a wave broke on the rock and sprayed up the front in a white cascade. The scene was magic to my eyes and I knew I was lucky to be standing where I was standing at that very second in time. In Santiago's words, some of us were born lucky, I guess. I felt it then.

It seems as if Mother Nature is working against me on this trip. Will she have any mercy, or keep throwing her harsh elements in front of the lens of my camera? We shall see, we shall see.