Metolius River photos, iPhone style

Here's some photos that I took during a recent visit to our cabin on the beautiful Metolius River in Camp Sherman (central Oregon).

I usually use an Olympus Stylus, which can do all kinds of stuff: zoom, adjust for different photographic conditions, and whatnot.

All of these shots were taken with my iPhone's camera, which can do exactly one thing: take a photo.

When I first got my iPhone, I was frustrated with the lack of photo options. Now, I'm appreciating the Zen'ish simplicity of pulling it out, choosing the camera icon, pressing the "take photo" button, and seeing what happens.

What you get is what you get. No fretting about not choosing the right camera setting, because there aren't any to choose from.

If I want to "zoom," I walk closer. To get more stuff showing in the picture, I back up.

With these shots, mostly the iPhone underexposed. As taken, they were too dark. But my MacBook's iPhoto software did a pretty good job when I pushed the "enhance" button. Here's the results.

 One morning, taking the dog out, I strolled to the edge of the Metolius -- a short distance from the cabin. Fog was starting to dissipate, but still producing a peaceful mystic stillness.

Black Butte rising over the Metolius. Spring-fed headwaters of the river are just a short ways upstream.

I have to remember to look up once in a while when walking along the Metolius. The branches of the large Ponderosa pines look like they have a lot of stories to tell.

Here I am, arriving at the charming Camp Sherman store after a bike ride. The woman in teal offered to take a photo of both of us after Laurel snapped this shot. Don't think she realized how much she was in this photo. I put my bike in this position to avoid a bunch of people sitting by the store front door. As often happens, my plan went awry.

On a walk this afternoon, I tied the dog to a tree and calmly walked up to the fence surrounding the Johnson meadow, doing my best to look horse friendly. Must have worked. This guy came walking up after a minute or two, probably figuring I might have some food.

Laurel by a creek that flows through the Metolius Meadows development. We laid our bikes down and took a walk along a nature trail, coming to this pleasant cool spot on a hot summer day.

Every morning I ride my bike a mile to the Camp Sherman store to get a newspaper. Leaving the store parking area, the view is terrific.

I don't fish. But I love the fisherpeople perching spots that have been built along the river.

Some of the first upstream Metolius white water. The river gets larger and considerably more rapid'y downstream.

Love the bark of the large Ponderosas. When they're young, the bark is grayish. Older trees get colorful.

Hot dog. Cold river. Perfect match.

This is one of my favorite stretches of the river. I never get tired of seeing it. Either directly, or via a photo.

Returning to the cabin, which we co-own with three other couples, Serena always is excited to start stalking the chipmunks which live under a deck. Never catches any, but the chase is the thing. When we leave, we put nuts by their holes as a non-verbal, "Sorry for the stress our dog caused you. It's all clear now."

Comments

[Roger]

Nice, very nice. I can feel the flowing water, smell the Ponderosa pine, and have some fun watching Serena cool off in the stream.

[ralph]

Cabin looks like crap.