Gold fills the air: Exceptional evening light and sunset at the Peter Iredale on an Oregon beach

The Wreck of the Peter Iredale at Sunset

Click on any of the photos to go to the album.

I almost missed this gorgeous evening light. It was raining and dreary, and I went shopping at Freddy's before going to the gym. Freddy's took longer than I thought, and the gym was closing. I hadn't been to the beach in awhile, so despite the rain and grayness of the day, I went. I was going to snap a couple of pix and go home, but the "new" batteries I'd put in my camera were not new, but very, very dead. I drove to the corner store on the highway and got new ones. Then I drove over to Hammond (another post) and took a few pix in the drizzle and fading gray light. Time to go home. But I saw to the west that the sun had broken through the clouds in a sliver of brilliant light, so I thought there could be something worth taking pictures of at the beach. Hoping for a nice sunset, I looped around once more and drive out to the Peter Iredale. Oh, my. I'm so glad I did. The air was filled with golden light, and I was in time to see the change of colors through an amzing spectrum. Not only that, but the rainbow on the landward side of the scene was a complete arc, growing stronger by the minute and then becoming a double rainbow - and what did I see perched on a pole in the midst of the rainbow? A bald eagle. I got his photo before he flew into the rainshine. In the album there's a photo of the rainbow's top curve, too.

The colors on the landward side of the hillock were rich and muted like a Romantic era painting.

Here's the bald eagle. At times like this, I wish I had good long lens, but that day will come.

The eagle flew off into the golden light.

The colors on the beach were muted, breathtaking and constantly changing. You can see Tillamook Head in the distance.

I didn't tweak this in PhotoShop except to boost the contrast the smallest trifle. This is how the camera saw the color of the sun's light diffused in the air. It was still sprinkling a little, and the air was wet and the slightest bit misty. I love the rows and rows of waves on our flat beach.

I took a lot of pictures this evening. Click on any photo to go the web album, and you can see the slide show or flip through the album of rainbow and Peter Iredale photos. I'm sure glad I didn't miss this evening at the beach!