WesDotPhotography

A little experiment here. I have just recently discovered this cool little tree along the Historic Columbia River Hwy. Actually from different angles it's either one little tree or two little trees. Both hanging onto the side of a cliff overlooking the valley and the Columbia River.
So here is the experiment:
One is edited in much the way I like to edit most landscape images. The other is using a technique called the Orton Effect. If you are interested in more about this technique just reach out to me. I love sharing. 😉
But first......let me know which one/ones you like. And one other fun little challenge is see if you can find the bird in one of these. Appears even if I'm not looking for one my camera always is. 🤣

On Oct. 24,2026 I posted this along with photos of the jets flying out of PDX for night training on my personal wall. I had not shared on my business page because I have been too busy responding to comments. As of 10/29/2026 I had 3.8K llikes, 140 shares and over 700 comments. As of today those numbers are much, much higher. I am still trying to keep up with responding to all the comments which are over 1.2K.

So here is what began the debacle over on an aviation FB page where I shared 2 of these jet images. A woman said she couldn't understand why I would post something that already has billions of photos out there already. She did however say they were 'ok'. And for whatever reason Facebook decided to boost and push this post. I'll never understand how it all works. 😐🫨
Back to the pictures though.....It was like the sky decided to compete with the jets of the 142nd Wing located at PDX to see which would be the most jaw dropping!

Hope you enjoy these and didn't find them too boring like that one lady did. 😉 And btw.....either she deleted the post or the moderator did right after I asked her if she thought I shouldn't have bothered posting them.

Fabulous morning starting with Mt Adams and then on to Mt Hood from the Hood River valley. Sun had gotten pretty bright but had some wonderful clouds over the mountain. And again how fast things change when photographing landscape. Dashing from one place to the next as this time it wasn't the light changing but the clouds changing so quickly!

Image 1: The cloud cap on top of Mt Hood was perfect! Taken at 9:08 am.

Image 2: Same spot as image one but within 11 minutes the wind was stretching out the clouds. Taken at 9:19am.

Image 3: Different spot on Hwy 35. Remember to always be safe on a busy road. The clouds had already stretched way out and a few new ones created. Taken at 9:34am

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/wes-and-dotty-weber?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=130647

Been really slow getting photos edited lately. Falltime is busytime and slow computer doesn't help.
Here are a couple more from my adventure with Mitch the other day. And it really shows how crazy fast light changes and what it does to your photos. It's like magic.
1st image shot before the sun was up. Taken at 7:32am
2nd image shot right after the sun was up and I scrambled back close to where I shot the 1st image. Taken at 7:38am
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/wes-and-dotty-weber?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=130647

With Wildlife Reference Photos – I just made it onto their weekly engagement list by being one of their top engagers 🎉

Remember this fabulous website offers very inexpensive downloads of incredible reference photos for artists!

KEEP SMALL BUSINESS ALIVE BY VISITING AND CHECKING THEM OUT.

Still looking for a new spot to find mushrooms 🍄and might have a new spot. Not even sure what this thing is but it was kind of cool.
And since I was in the neighborhood thought I would see how my friend's driveway was looking. It is always such a wondrous sight! 🍁🍂🍁
BTW.....Please do always respect the beautiful private property by only admiring it from afar.

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/wes-and-dotty-weber?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=130647

Why do my stars all have wings? No....it's not that I photograph a lot of birds and my camera was confused. 🦉
I am posting two photos I took at different times a few nights ago. One is shot wide open at f/1.4 and the other stopped down to f/2.8.
Here is the nerdy explanation:
When you stop down the lens to f/2.8, the physical aperture blades close down slightly and block out those problematic outer rays, resulting in clean, sharp, pinpoint stars.
Why This Happens at f/1.4 (or wide open)
Astigmatism: This occurs when light rays traveling in different planes (horizontal and vertical) fail to converge at the exact same focal point. Near the edges of the frame, point sources like stars get stretched into ovals, wings, or "seagull" shapes.
So now I need to reshoot all my previous astro photgraphy photos following this mindset.

What a perfect night to photograph Mt Hood from Eliot Creek near Laurance Lake. No clouds, leaves turning yellow, no breeze, temperatures in the low 60 and the Milky Way lined up behind Mt Hood right at astronomical twilight. So we could begin shooting at 8pm and were headed home a little after 9.

FORMULA 1.......Down the Rabbit Hole I've gone. (yes, artificial intelligence)

What fun watching these crazy expensive cars (between $12 million and $16 million) go around and around. And sometimes bonk into each other or the walls. AND so many seem to be driven by children. Some are barely old enough to have a driver's license. How can that be??? 🤣

Many more images can be seen beyond these new ones at this link below:
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/wes-and-dotty-weber?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=1255192