I have been to Pendleton, Oregon, exactly twice. That is clearly not enough. Pendleton, however, was my real gateway to Oregon when I moved there in 1991.
All those years ago, I hit the Oregon boarder in a 1981 Ford F150 pickup truck at about 9:00 AM. The Wallowa Mountains were amazing. I have no pictures from that day because I was in a hurry to get to Portland. By midday, I approached a road, one of many, that has a quintessential Western name: Deadman Pass. I was impressed. Almost immediately, the world seemed to fall out from under my truck.
The road angled downward, and around a bend in the road the countryside opened up before my bug splattered windshield. I’m not sure if I heard a small band of angels singing, but it must have happened. It’s the only kind of thing that could happen when a view that sweeping reveals itself. The only time I had seen that much of the world at one time was on a plane.
©2018 Gary L. Quay
A panorama of the farms and checker board fields leading to Pendleton, Oregon. This image hints at the scope of the scene coming around the bend at the top of Cabbage Hill, except that this is about a third of the way down.
©2018 Gary L. Quay
This is the view from “Cabbage Hill” near Pendleton, Oregon. It’s quite the view, and is more than a single photo can capture. My hope is to do it justice.
Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR
©2013 Gary L. Quay
My wife and I learned a lot about this place after we took the underground tour. It was the most reputable brothel in the area back in the day. I took this handheld at 1/60 sec., so there’s a little motion blur. I like the effect, though.
Camera: Speed Graphic 4×5.
Lens: 135mm Kodak Ektar.
Film: Kodak T-Max 100 developed in PMK Pyro.
©2013 Gary L. Quay
This is Hamley’s in Downtown Pendleton. It’s a big name there. They own a pair of restaurants, a western shop and saddlery, and a café. We stopped at all of them in 2013.
Camera: Super Speed Graphic
Lens: 127mm Kodak Ektar
Film: Kodak T-Max 100 developd in Ilfotec HC
©2013 Gary L. Quay
This is the Working Girls Hotel in Pendleton, Oregon. It’s part of the Pendleton Underground Tours. The town had a reputation as a brothel town in its early days, and many of the downtown buildings still reveal its secrets to those who know.
Camera: Speed Graphic 4×5
Lens: 127mm Kodak Ektar
Film: Kodak T-Max 100 developed in Ilford Ilfotec HC
©2013 Gary L. Quay
Old structures like this catch my eye. I happened to be carrying my Speed Graphic, but no tripod. I held the camera down low to alter the perspective a bit. I could have approximated a back tilt to square up the lines, but I opted for this composition instead.
Camera: Speed Graphic 4×5
Lens: 127mm Kodak Ektar.
Film: Fuji Astia.
©2013 Gary L. Quay
This is from my trip to Pendleton in March of 2013. The negative suffered from dust, and a few light scratches, but they weren’t hard to remove, just tedious.
Camera: Sinar Alpina 4×5.
Lens: 210mm Schneider.
Film: Efke PL 50 developed in PMK Pyro
©2018 Gary L. Quay
During my second return to Pendleton, stopoped by the little town of Echo on the way home. I had taken a picture of this grain elevator in 2013, and wanted another try at getting it right. The 2013 negatives are extremely hard to print from, and I don’t know why, because they look good to me. This time, however, the grain elevator had been given a makeover by a winery. I would not be getting a redo of the earlier pictures.
The wine is very good, by the way, and the owners are pleasant, and welcoming. If you are in the area, stop by. You won’t regret it.
Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR
©2013 Gary L. Quay
This is what the future winery looked like 5 years earlier.
This is from the Pendleton trip in March 2013. We took a side trip on the way home, and found this in a little town called Echo.
Camera: Sinar Alpina 4×5.
Lens: 90mm Nikkor.
Film: Ilford HP5+ developed in Agfa Rodinal.
©2018 Gary L. Quay
I liked this composition, which is on the outskirts of Pendleton. The area relies heavily on agriculture, and the town’s infrastructure shows it.
Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-120mm Nikon VR
©2013 Gary L. Quay
It’s extremely hard to catpure the view, and just how impressive it is with a single picture, and the panoramics I have done have not been a good as I would have liked. When I go back, I hope to finally make the picture I wanted when I first saw it in 1991. I have a few ideas. We’ll see how they pan out.
Camera: Sinar Alpina 4×5.
Lens: 210mm Schneider Symar
Film: Efke PL 50 developed in PMK Pyro
So, that’s all I have for now. Hopefully I will have another occasion to bring back more images from Oregon’s land of cowboys and wool blankets soon.
Thanks for looking!
–Gary L. Quay
