Bad Astronomy

Oregon Transplant

A crashing wave punctuates the drama of the Oregon coast.

Photo by Uncage the Soul, from the video

Years ago, my wife and I were thinking of moving out of California. We decided to travel around a bit over time and see what caught our fancy. One destination we loved was Oregon; it was beautiful, the people where we visited were friendly, and it just felt like a place we could call home.

Ultimately, we decided Colorado was a better fit for us, and I’ve never regretted that decision. But Oregon is still a mighty pretty place. And I can prove it to you too:

Holy wow. Gorgeous! I like the mix of time-lapse and slow-motion photography; both show us the world in different ways, exposing sights and events our eyes and brains aren’t adapted to seeing on their own.

I have to laugh, too: I saw the name of the video production company, Uncage the Soul, and it sounded familiar. I checked, and hey! One of the guys running it is Ben Canales, a photographer whose work I’ve featured here on the blog many times. He took one of my favorite astrophotos of all time:

To stand in awe before the Universe.

Photo by Ben Canales, used by permission

I love that so much. As I wrote about it, “This is what it’s like to live in my head.”   

I’m really glad I got to feature more of Ben’s work here. If you want to see more—and you do—then check out his 500px page. He’s really very gifted.

Some day I’ll head back to Oregon. I gave a talk in Portland a few years ago and really enjoyed myself, and Crater Lake … well, that ancient exploded volcano still deeply resonates in my brain and heart. It was overwhelming, and I’d love the chance to experience it again.

Tip o’ the lens cap to Vernon Balbert.