Digital

I am a late adopter of digital photography.  Until I was bereft of a darkroom in 2015, I had no use for it.  In preparation to move to Hood River, Oregon, I packed up the darkroom in my Portland house. It was not a good day. but I was certain that we could find a suitable place.  I had waited 10 years to build that darkroom, and it gave me the ability to print large pictures, and lots of them.

Moving to a new location is difficult, and when one’s house sells, the selection is what’s on the market at that time in the place desired.  The house we bought did not have the possibility of a containing darkroom.  Sure, I could have ripped up a bedroom and installed the plumbing.  I did it once before. The trouble was, we understood early on that the house was a temporary abode, and I did not want to have to rip it back out again.  So, I sent film off to labs in Portland, and made the best of it.  Chances are, if I had never moved to Hood River, I never would have bought a digital camera, and would be still a film-only photographer.

In October of 2015, I did the unthinkable.  I bought a used Nikon D300 from a local camera store, and started learning a new way of seeing the world.  It really was a big step.  I was, in some ways, giving up the dream I had since I first saw Ansel Adams’ picture “Clearing Winter Storm.”

So, as with all of my photographic pursuits, I strive for quality, and resolution.  I want to be able to print large.  With that in mind, I saved up, and bought a new Nikon D810 in 2017.  I have my sights set on a medium format Fuji or Hasselblad. If you’re going to do something, do it right.  Go big.

I built a small darkroom in my new house in Fairview, Oregon, and I am back at it, trying to make the perfect negative.  I travel with both film and digital cameras now, and I happily use both.  This is my Digital Gallery.  It’s meant as an introduction to what I have done with pixels in the last 6 years.  I will be adding new images, and new pages as time goes on.

Thanks for looking!

Gary L. Quay

©2021 Gary L. Quay

We drove out to Mosier to visit Idiot’s Grace Winery (that’s its real name) where we are wind club members. We took the long way there by turning onto the Historic Columbia River Highway from the Rowena exit from I-84 and zigzagging up to the Crest, and back down to Mosier. The light was effervescent.

I took some slides with the Hasselblad while I was there. Coiuld be interesting.

Camera: Nikon D810.
Lens: 24-885mm Nikon

©2015 Gary L. Quay

This is one of my first digital pictures.  I had a lens that came with the camera: a 24-120mm Nikon VR, and some older lenses that I used with my old Nikon F3.  I was slowly getting them converted to use on a modern digital camera.  I liked the idea of using glass from the 1960’s on a camera from 2008.

This is the Oregon high plains with some windmills, just south of the Columbia River.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR

©2018 Gary L. Quay

This is from about 3 years ago. 2018 was a productive year for my photography. Having access to all of those wonderfully delapidated houses was especially fun. The Substation Fire, and a few other recent fires burned down a few of these beauties, but I managed to capture them to present here.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 90mm Tamron Macro

©2017 Gary L. Quay

This is 6 pictures merged into one. I was learning how to do things I wouldn’t have dreamed of doing just a couple of years earlier.

Camera: Nikon D300

©2018 Gary L. Quay

I have taken a lot of pictures of Starvation Creek Falls, which is near Hood River, in the Columbia Gorge, Oregon. There’s so much of it that it’s hard to get it all without seeming too busy. I hope I got it right with this one.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 28-105mm Nikon-D.

©2018 Gary L. Quay

Cannon Beach, Oregon at sunset.  Sometimes, just being there is all that matters.  Getting pictures makes it better.

This picture looks a lot better when you click on it, and it opens in a new window.  I don’t know why.  I’m working on it.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Vintage 50mm Nikkor

©2015 Gary L. Quay

Ruthton Point in Hood River, Columbia Gorge, Oregon.  It’s another example of my earlier digital work.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR

©2019 Gary L. Quay

This is the the Historic Columbia River Highway near Rowena Crest in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon during autumn.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-85mm Nikon-D

©2020 Gary L. Quay

I like the way these pylons look. They were likely the footings of a cannery from previous century. Astoria smelled like fish guts in the early 1900’s.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 28mm Zeiss Distagon F2

©2020 Gary L. Quay

I like the way these pylons look. They were likely the footings of a cannery from previous century. Astoria smelled like fish guts in the early 1900’s.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 28mm Zeiss Distagon F2

©2018 Gary L. Quay

Vista House in the Columbia Gorge.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Vintage 200mm Nikkor

©2017 Gary L. Quay

I keep waiting in vain for a train at this spot. This time, I caught the moon instead.

Camera: Nikin D300
Lens: 24-120mm Nikpon VR

©2015 Gary L. Quay

Winter is come in the Columbia Gorge. The mountains are snow-capped, and the sun makes the occasional appearance. This is a barn on a cliff just off the Hwy 30, otherwise known as the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway. I tried for a long time to get a good picture of this barn, but I had this one sitting in a folder for 5 years without even looking at it.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR

©2018 Gary L. Quay

A cold wind was blowing, and our coats didn’t do much good. Nevertheless, we braved the elements to get about 20 minutes of one of the best sunsets I’ve caught with a camera.

This was a really difficult edit, but I’m learning how to do it. It is not HDR. Bringing the values of the foreground, which was all silhouette, up to where detail could be seen, while not losing the intensity of the sunset took some doing. My main concern was that it didn’t look fake.

A friend from work called this “Bacon Sunset”.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR

©2020 Gary L. Quay

Gaia and I were out at the coast on a Sunday in December 2020 to see if we could catch a sunset. We did. I haven’t done many sunsets or sunrises lately. The pandemic has taken much of the wind out of my sails when it comes to being out in public. Way too many people still aren’t paying attention to the guidelines, and it’s dangerous for Gaia to be around people like that, even outdoors. So, everyone, please enable everyone, including folks with depressed immune systems, to enjoy the outdoors by masking up when near anyone not in your immediate household, and keep your distance. People can be infected when oudoors. To those of you who mask up, and follow the state’s guidelines: Thank you very much. Your effors are much appreciated.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-85mm Nikon

©2018 Gary L. Quay

Interesting light and clouds in the Eastern Columbia Gorge a couple of years ago. It looked like the heavens were opening.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-85mm Nikon-D

©2018 Gary L. Quay

Mount Hood is a sheer joy to photograph almost any time of the year. It can be hard to find a place along the road to get a really good picture, depending on one’s location. Alos, the mountain spends vast swaths of the year behind a veil of clouds, but when the light is right, and the snow sparkles, there’s nothing like it.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 28-105mm Nikon D

©2021 Gary L. Quay

This is Little Joe Creek near Brightwood, Oregon.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 28mm Zeiss Distagon ZF2

©2021 Gary L. Quay

This is Little Zigzag Falls near Welches, Oregon. I can’t believe it took me this long to go there.

I have seen this referred to as Little Zigzag Creek and Little Zigzag river at various places. The map says it’s a river. Hiking websites call it a creek.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 28mm Zeiss Distagon ZF2

©2018 Gary L. Quay

A winter orchard near Parkdale, Oregon.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Vinatge 35mm Nikkor

©2020 Gary L. Quay

This was my first attempt at landscape photography since the shelter in place order was given due to the pandemic. Truth be told, I’m going a little nuts being cooped up in the house all of the time, but it’s better than catching the virus. Luckily, we don’t have to go very far to take pictures here.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 28mm Zeiss Distagon F2.

©2020 Gary L. Quay

We had a chance to get out into Terra Incognito in May of 2020. We went out to support some business owners we know in the Parkdale area, and took the opportunity to have a nice drive. We ended up in Sherman County where this lovely scene presented itself. It was one of the bluest skies I have seen.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-85mm Nikon

©2018 Gary L. Quay

Some wind turbines on a hill in the Eastern Columbia Gorge in Washington.  I like the Maryhill area.  It’s got the Pacific Northwest’s best winery (Maryhill Winery), a Stonehenge replica, a historic road called the Maryhill Loops Road, and a fine museum.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Vintage 50mm Nikkor

©2017 Gary L. Quay

This is from a few years ago. It’s a different angle on the famous red barn in Pine Grove, Oregon, near Hood River.

I’ve never been able to get the classic picture of this barn. You have to trespass to get it, and I tend to respect the property owners’ wishes.

Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR

©2019 Gary L. Quay

There is a rock formation in Siletz Bay near Lincoln City on the Oregon Coast. It often looks good at sunset.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-85mm Nikon

©2019 Gary L. Quay

This is the Historic Columbia River Highway, as seen from about a mile east of Mosier, Oregon. I took this picture in the early Spring.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Vintage 35mm Nikkor

©2021 Gary L. Quay

I made it to the Dalles Mountain Ranch in Washigton in the Spring for the first time since 2018. I am happy about that.

Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-85mm Nikon