Drift Creek Falls

I had a great opportunity just a few weeks ago to go on a women's retreat with some dear friends. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and enjoying some much-needed "girl time." We stayed in a beautiful cabin just a few minutes outside of Lincoln City, surrounded by gorgeous forests and rolling hills. I had stayed at the cabin just before the retreat, which gave us a chance to see how sleeping arrangements were going to work and whatnot.

When I was there the first time, I saw a sign for a trail just down the road from the driveway. I didn't think much of it, but I made a mental note that it might be fun to explore when I came back for the retreat, since I knew we would get some down time.

Turns out the trail was actually for Drift Creek Falls, which I had wanted to see for a long time. I had viewed many pictures from fellow photogs and thought it looked amazing. Low and behold, it was just a few miles away, so a friend of mine and I decided that a hike would be awesome for our free time.

The forest surrounding the trail was just as lush and beautiful as it was around the cabin. The leaves had already fallen from the deciduous trees, but it gave me a good time frame to come back and get autumn photos next year.

The suspension bridge was probably my favorite part of the hike, mainly because I'm a height junkie. If it's high off the ground, I want to climb it and look over the edge. I had seen multiple photos of this bridge, so it was a thrill to finally walk over it in person.

This was one of those trips that was a super pleasant surprise. One other surprise that came was when I was trying in vain to get a long exposure shot of the falls. The daylight was just too harsh at that particular time of day, plus I hadn't bothered to bring my tripod because I didn't realize just how impressive the waterfall was up close. (Photographer fail, I know.)

Now, I try really hard not to photograph strangers, because I don't want to come across as a creeper and it's not always convenient to get a model release, but this was one of those moments where I didn't see the person walk into my shot until after I had taken it. I ended up really liking it, and while I still probably won't use it for marketing purposes, it makes me smile nonetheless.

It's one of those things that comes from being a photographer. Sometimes you get lucky and an amazing shot literally wanders up to you. Other times, you visit the same site for weeks on end and never get the sunset you wanted.

It's a tough job, but it's worth it in the long run.