Photographer: Ray Boren

Summary Author: Ray Boren

Despite first impressions, a single red pebble offers evidence that this spacy image was not captured from a high altitude, looking down upon dramatic earthly (or alien?) topography, but rather the artful world just beyond our toes.

In a photograph taken at sunset on June 11, 2015, at the Roads End Recreation Site outside of Lincoln City, the small round rock contrasts with fine, wind-sculpted light and dark sands and soils, suggesting a yin-yang effect. A stiff breeze relentlessly pushed leg-stinging grains of sand south, only inches above the beach, at this spot where runoff from the nearby Roads End neighborhood in Neotsu comes down to the cobble- and sand-lined Pacific Ocean shore. Note also the pebbles' tiny sand wakes.

The Lincoln City area, about 90 mi (144 km) southwest of Portland, is noted for its beaches and breezes and winds. The city’s Website observes that the prevailing winds come from the northwest in the summer and from the southwest in winter — making the beaches prime kite-flying territory, notably during an annual summertime kite festival (in late June), as well as a popular surfing and kite-boarding location.

Photo Details: Camera Model: NIKON D3200; Lens: AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED; Focal Length: 70mm (35mm equivalent: 105mm); Aperture: ƒ/8.0; Exposure Time: 0.020 s (1/50); ISO equiv: 400.



