I discovered Dufur about ten years ago. It was new to me, but the little town along Route 197 just south of The Dalles has a long history of agriculture, vintage cars, and those arid landscapes I have come to enjoy. Sure, it has a funny name, but I’ll see that, and raise you Intercourse, PA, and Hoboken, NJ. Take that. Dufur resides in Wasco County, once the largest county in the US, stretching all the way to Wyoming in its prime, way back in 1853. It has been reduced in size during the intervening years, and now boasts as many people as one of the smaller Portland suburbs.
Dufur sits at the confluence between the old and new west. A few miles to the north sits The Dalles, a metropolitan area boasting a busy downtown with wineries, Oregon’s oldest bookstore, Klindt’s, and a smattering of trendy restaurants. To the west is Mount Hood, and to the east and south are many miles of grasslands, tractors, and sagebrush. It’s the kind of place where one can walk into a western movie, if one has the right sense of imagination. Dufur extends well beyond its borders due to being surrounded by unincorporated land. There are roads, and old schoolhouses named after Dufur miles away. Let’s take a look
©2020 Gary L. Quay
Mt Hood presides over a farm in Dufur, Oregon. Infrared image.
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: 28mm Zeiss Distagon ZF2
©2019 Gary L. Quay
The Radiator of a Vintage Chevrolet Dufur Vintage Days, August, 2019. Dufur, Oregon.
Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: Vintage 85mm Nikkor
©2019 Gary L. Quay
I got to cross an item off of my bucket list when Gaia and I stayed at the Balch Hotel last weekend. Glen Bledsoe (you can find him on Flickr) and I photographed a wedding at White River Falls in the morning, and then headed over to the Dufur Vintage Days fair in the afternoon. Around nightfall, we heard that there may be a repeat of Friday night’s thunderstorm, and we went out to see if there were pictures to be had. The thunderstorm fizzled, but the hotel did not.
Camera: NIkon D810
Lens: 24-85mm Nikon
©2019 Gary L. Quay
I took this during my recent trip to Dufur, Oregon with Salem photographer Glen Bledsoe. I very rarely get to photograph true storm lighting during the “Golden Fifteen”, so this was a treat.
Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-85mm Nikon
©2018 Gary L. Quay
Could use some paint. Really.
Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 28-105mm Nikon-D
©2018 Gary L. Quay
Could use some paint. Really.
Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 28-105mm Nikon-D
Featured Image
Mount Hood from Dufur, Oregon
Camera: Nikon D810
Lens: 24-85mm Nikon
All images edited with Adobe Photoshop 2021.
