Driving home from town on a magical country night was perfect for shooting pictures with the ever changing light! After running errands with Wild Bill most of the afternoon we headed for home just as the light was switching. The early evening was crisp and clear and you could see for miles. Thankfully I pack and travel with my camera…I had extra batteries and I was ready to go 🙂
This is the view that I see when I climb out of Juniper, the canyon that I live in…the Blue Mountains…incredible huh? No houses or people to be seen! A view like no other as most people look at people and houses and cities…out here…we look at a whole lot of nothing. Instead we enjoy viewing the rich landscape views and the interesting weather .
The 20 miles of country road that we travel to Safeway…the bank…and my hair dresser is over to the right of the photo…can you see the black top with the up and down rolling hills? The views of the Blue Mountains are always part of the reward for living this far out of town…we get to see them and enjoy them as we drive.
A beautiful incredible February evening…more like early April.
We are about a mile from my house…the view is looking West towards Mt. Hood about 200 miles from here.
Can you see Mt. Hood? It’s that little pointed blip in the photo. Next summer when I ride my horse at the magic time I will shoot some pictures that include Mt. Hood…St. Helens…Mt Adams and Mt. Ranier if I am blessed with the perfect shot…and I know I will be:)
Why we call them “The Blue Mountains”…with the light they always look blue.
Rolling hills very close to my house…the golden fields that you see are last summer’s wheat fields…once the wheat is thrashed the combine leaves this…we call it stubble…it rests for a year before it is planted for wheat or barley…each field is harvested every other year…the dark soil you see in the fields is fallow ground….it is ready to plant again in the Fall or the Spring for Spring wheat.
We have our land in the Conservation Reserve Protection or (CRP ) program that pays the farmer to not work their land or grow wheat for 10-15 years…it is geared towards laying the ground off as it has been farmed and worked for over a 100 years.
We liked that idea when we had the chance to sign the land up so that it could rest…so that is what we did.
The light…the colors of the landscape and the sky pop…and I am clicking away with my camera with a big smile on my face:)
We were blessed with a beautiful sunset on a magical country night…the last shot as the sun sinks lower and lower.
Have a great day today…hoping you will get a gift like this…sunsets and sunrises are magical and I love shooting them 🙂
Hot Rod Cowgirl 
Feb 27, 2012 @ 14:41:06
Love these photos, so beautiful and warm.
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Feb 27, 2012 @ 15:20:09
Thank you:) It is fun to shoot in different light and from various angles…I love the creative part of photography:)
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Feb 22, 2012 @ 08:21:23
I have to tell you, working for the USDA at one time, I referred to my father in law’s CRP land as ‘CPR’ land! I’m enjoying your photos. When my husband and I lived on my father in law’s ranch, we were 18 miles from town. You’ve heard of city folk referring to the midwest as ‘fly-over land’? Where there’s ‘nothing’, but you know what, that’s what makes it special—no traffic, plenty of space between you and the ‘next door neighbor’, and you can see the weather coming in. Ye-haw!!
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Feb 22, 2012 @ 10:26:45
That is funny….yes I have seen some CRP land that I definitely would say is in need of CPR:) We are one of those farmers and land owners that are very perfectionistic about the CRP…..we love it when they allow us to mow as each time we do more of the super duper grass mix thickens….it is getting pretty now…buy yah I here you:) You sound like me where you lived 18 miles out…one of the local young men married a gal from Kansas….they live about 2-3 miles from me.
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Feb 17, 2012 @ 13:35:04
I love your blog. I am nominating you for The Versatile Blog Award.
http://creativenoshing.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/versatile-blog-award/
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Feb 17, 2012 @ 14:29:05
🙂 Thank you so much:) Wow!!! I love blogging and I love photography…and the best part is meeting fellow bloggers like you:)
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Feb 17, 2012 @ 03:48:21
These are absolutely AMAZING photos!! Such great colours and clear shots. Beautiful!
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Feb 17, 2012 @ 09:35:18
Thank you….I love finding the right moment for the shot with light, shadow and overall beauty:)
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 23:18:12
fabulous. wish I were there to see the entire landscape.
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Feb 17, 2012 @ 09:33:06
Thank you:) It is beautiful in this part of NE Oregon..
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 16:36:56
You make me miss the West…very much.
Those were over the top lovely. Thanks so much!
~d.
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 16:51:25
🙂 I am glad that you enjoyed them…I love the wide open spaces of the West…it speaks deep to our spirits. What part of Idaho did you live in? I have to share some trivia with you. In the mid 1960’s my Dad was President of the Pendleton Round Up….it is our annual huge rodeo that lasts a week…Pendleton goes from 15,000 to 60,000 plus…it is not fun to go get groceries that week! Anyway the Budweiser Horses came to the rodeo that year and I have a profesional black and white photo of them that was given to my Dad. They did not have large enough stalls for the horses so they cleared out the Caterpillar Tractor building and made stalls in it for the team. I was so very impressed with seeing the horses and their size up close…beautiful animals and such personalities! I know you miss the West but what an awesome job to have with the horses and also the many things you get to see:) I love your photos:)
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 18:06:15
Oh gosh! You’re gonna make me cry!
Sandpoint High School graduate. Then much later Bonners Ferry (30 miles from the Canadian border) right before we moved out here to the Mid-West.
I know of the Pendleton Round Up. Been there at least once w/Todd when he was there w/the hitch. How cool your dad was Pres! Pendleton, Calgary and Cheyenne – the best of the West baby! And yah, totally with you on the going to town for groceries during that time…plan ahead huh?!
The hitch, in the last 30+ years, carries portable stalls in the semi that leads the convoy, “Clyde 1” they call it. That way they are always prepared whatever situation is thrown their way.
You are right, I am a blessed girl through and though but I still mourn the West …I try my best to make an effort to appreciate all that comes my way no matter what. I love your photo’s too, they hurt, but in a good way…don’t stop. 🙂
~d.
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 19:40:46
Ohhhhh…I am sorry gf…I do understand…when I lived in WY. it was beautiful and incredible but I was so vey homesick…I wanted to see here:) Sandpoint is only 5 hours max from us…I can make it to Spokane in three hours…love the area and CDA…and Bonner’s Ferry is on the edge of the Rockies with the Cabinets…loved it there too. Thank you much for the compliment on the photos…I will keep it up…as it speaks to my heart and soul…I love capturing the moment in the pictures…the right angle and the right light…the emotions of the image…every picture that we take can tell a story…that is my goal…
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 15:42:29
What beautiful images.
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 16:05:47
Thank you:) I love being in the right place at the right time in regards to light and color for shooting pictures….I love that part of photography…capturing the feeling and colors of the light in that click second 🙂
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 16:09:32
That is the magic of photography! 🙂 You certainly chose the right time to take these beautiful images.
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 16:22:36
🙂 It becomes an obsession and truly does feed your spirit. I love it!
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 15:04:22
You just love making me jealous! Your land is so very beautiful. 🙂
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 15:32:21
🙂 Thank you
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 15:36:15
Welcome! 🙂
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 13:19:30
What incredibly gorgeous photos! You can just see FOREVER out there….no wonder you love it to pieces.
Pam (and Sam)
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 13:54:59
🙂 Yes you can truly see 200 miles away when you are on top of the hill…Mt. Hood and St. Helens are 200 miles from here…I love getting on top of the hills on a warm summer evening on horseback with my camera!
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 13:19:18
“From the mountains .. to the prairie .. to the ocean .. white with foam – God Bless America … my home, sweet home!”
Stunning photos — where are you located? I clicked on every one to gasp, ooh and ahh at the landscape you call “home.”
Sitting here in West Michigan with wonder etched across my face … MJ
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 13:51:31
🙂 We live in Eastern Oregon…about 20 miles from Pendleton OR. My closest neighbor is almost 2 miles away…I am blessed that I have lived here all my life. Wild Bill and I managed some huge cattle ranches for wealthy absentee owners in the 90’s so I have lived in isolated places forever. I love sharing our views with everyone…I am glad you blew them up as then you cold gain a better perspective too. Thank you for stopping by:)
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 16:49:13
and I grew up on the wild Saskatchewan prairie. Your views are just incredible .. no words can capture the majesty in them!
Cheers to you and Wild Bill 🙂 MJ
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 16:57:16
Thank you much:) I bet you had some incredible views where you grew up too…I would love to go see the prairie and the Rockies:)
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 17:07:38
I did .. but we were far from the mtns and only saw them heading towards family in AB or BC. Peruse my blog for photos in the September time frame to see photos of my family farm.
You would love it there .. and they would love you, too!
MJ
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 19:10:19
I will do that MJ…even if it was far away the amazing views of the wide open spaces would have been way cool:) I love being out in the country…the more isolated the better I like it…I joke often about here…it is too uptown compared to what I saw in WY. and Central OR. Yes I am 20 miles from town but in Central OR I was 35 miles…yikes. I would love to travel to your home ground and see where you grew up and lived…we both have a heart for the land…the country…heritage…and the name MJ:)
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 11:06:24
It’s beautifully golden. I love it.
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Feb 16, 2012 @ 11:12:26
Thank you 🙂 I love the golden magical light too…it stirs the creative juices and I just want to shoot pictures and dig deep with writing. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
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