Friday, February 28, 2014

Crater Lake National Park (Part 1) w/ Odell Lake and Lowell - Oregon, USA

From 7/17/2013 to 8/2/2013, I took a road trip from the SF Bay Area to Vancouver, BC, Canada. Half of the trip was spent driving up the west coast. On my trip, I visited many famous places such as Seattle, Butchart Gardens, Mount Rainier, and much more. Obviously I got many coastal shots and many places that isn't as famous. The reason I am posting it now is because the high amount of photos I took equaled a high amount of processing time. I took a bit over 2000 photos on the trip. After stitching the panoramas, compositing the HDRs, and picking out photos from the repeats, I have a bit over 1000 photos to show you guys. The photos will be split into parts. I will link you to the previous and next parts on each post just like I did with my Death Valley National Park photos and my Yellowstone/Grand Teton National Park photos. Hope you enjoy viewing this chain of posts!

Full Resolution Photos and Prints: If you want to see full resolution photos or buy prints of any of the photos you see, they are up on my portfolio for viewing. To view my best Oregon photos, use this link. To view my best Crater Lake National Park photos, use this link. To view all of my day 14 photos, use this link.

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Today I have photos from many places in Oregon including the famous Lowell Covered Bridge in Lowell, Oregon, Odell Lake, and they well known Crater Lake National Park. The photos from Crater Lake National Park will be split into 2 parts. The lake of Crater Lake National Park was formed from a collapsed volcano. The island in the middle is called Wizard Island. The lake itself is 1,943 feet (592 m) deep at its deepest point making it the deepest lake in the United States, 2nd deepest in North America, and the 9th deepest in the world. Upon getting to Crater Lake National Park, the whole area was covered in heavy smoke. At the time, we didn't know what it was. It wasn't until I got to Lava Beds National Monument, the park ranger told us that there were several forest fires burning around the area in Oregon itself and the surrounding states contributing to the low visibility and smell.

 My first destination is near Lowell Covered Bridge in Lowell, Oregon photographing the Dexter Reservoir.
  Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 54 36 N 122 46 46 W   

Here is a black and white process of the above photo. This was one of the best scenes I saw on this trip.  

 Here is the view on the other side of the bridge/road. Not as good in my opinion. 
  Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 54 38 N 122 46 48 W   


A photo of the forests in Oakridge, Oregon. 
   Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 44 39 N 122 28 00 W   

 A photo of the forest in Crescent, Oregon. 
 Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 36 48 N 122 04 04 W   

Now I approach Odell Lake in the Deschutes National Forest. On the left is Odell Creek. 
 Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 32 57 N 121 57 45 W   

 Another photo of Odell Creek getting closer to Odell Lake. Beyond that yellow tree that has fallen is Odell Lake. There are many logs and driftwood at where the creek meets the lake. 
 Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 32 57 N 121 57 46 W  


I walk into Odell Lake for some shots. This (in my opinion) turned out to be one of my best shots ever. 
 Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 33 01 N 121 57 48 W   

Black and white process of the photo above.  

 Another photo from the same spot but different angle. While the lake looks very clean in my shots, walking into the river, I noticed a thin layer of gasoline on top of the lake. The lake is polluted probably from all the fishing boats in it. 


Driving toward Crater Lake National Park, I stopped to get a photo of the forest. This was when I first started smelling smoke. It wasn't a very strong smell, but I could definitely smell it. I thought maybe they were just doing a controlled burn like the ones they do in Yosemite National Park and other forests to help promote tree growth.  
 Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 05 14 N 121 58 34 W  

Photo shot at the ticketing station for Crater Lake National Park. This was from the North Entrance Station. Look at how thick the smoke is down the highway. 
 Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 04 40 N 122 07 05 W  

A black and white process of the photo above.  

My first destination is the Pumice Desert. That is not fog you are seeing, but smoke. This is an HDR composition.
 Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 01 43 N 122 07 12 W  

 Here is another photo of the Pumice Desert from a slightly different angle. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 43 001 44 N 122 07 12 W  


Shot a few scenery shots on the drive to Crater Lake. This is an HDR composition. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 42 57 57 N 122 09 07 W  

Here is another scenery shot on the drive to Crater Lake. As you can see, that is all smoke from the surrounding forest fires! I will continue with the photos from Crater Lake and Wizard Island in the next post. 
Approximate GPS location (type into Google) according to the Canon GP-E2 GPS Receiver: 42 54 54 N 122 09 08 W   

Black and white process of the photo above. 

These are all the photos for today. I hope you have enjoyed viewing them. Next time I will continue with the rest of the photos from Crater Lake National Park. Please don't forget to share the blog post with your friends and family members! Also, if you want to get notifications when I post up more photos, "Like" us on Facebook or follow me on Twitter and Instagram. These links can also be found on the top of the right sidebar.

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