Dogs in silhouette: Sunsets on the Oregon coast are the perfect location

Every year, we head to the Oregon Coast for an end-of-summer getaway.

Every year, I anticipate a gorgeous sunset on the Pacific Ocean.

Two years ago, I went with the thought, “OK, this a great time for dogs in silhouette.”

No, better: a family portrait in silhouette. I put the Nikon D500 on a tripod, set up a timer and voila!

Immediately I saw things I wanted to change. On our 2019 vacation, though, we had clouds, rain, clouds, rain and so many more clouds.

Another attempt at dogs in silhouette

Oh but we were all set up for a perfect week on the Oregon coast this year. The forecast said mid-20s (sorry, guys, I cannot get away from Celsius! Mid-70s Fahrenheit) and sunshine.

Lots of sunshine.

Which meant sunsets.

Glorious sunsets.

We got one night out of three. And what a night it was.

We arrived in Rockaway Beach two days after that vicious windstorm that ripped through the Pacific and Inland Northwest. It wasn’t so bad here in Spokane Valley, although Bella wasn’t much a fan of it.

The power was still out all over the little town, even at our AirBnB.

Cell towers were even inoperable and we had the worst time just getting in touch with our property manager to get the key code.

But we had beer.

And a beach in a less than five-minute walk from the house.

And a sunset.

I grabbed my camera. My husband helped, holding Bella’s leash for me so I could get her standing for the image at the top of the page.

And he posed. My most reluctant model acquiesced, knowing how fleeting our chances at sunsets have been.

We even got so brave as to let Bella off-leash for a little free play in the water:

Oh wait … another Pupscape panorama, because I’m absolutely addicted to them.

And I thought, “OK, I haven’t really nailed dogs in silhouette yet but there’s always tomorrow.”

There wasn’t.

Smoke rolls in

The wildfires throughout California, Oregon and Washington states are terrifying, horrific and tragic. Homes, dreams and lives have been lost.

I’ve been reading on my Maremma sheepdog Facebook groups about ranchers losing livestock and their dogs, who refused to leave their flocks behind. One rancher watched her dog fleeing the flames get hit by her brother’s truck.

It’s heart-wrenching.

My dog photos became so much less of a priority as we made the best of our getaway and wondered whether our favorite little town would be evacuated. Just two hours south of us, the skies of Newport were blood red from the flames.

Even driving through Portland on our way home, knowing suburbs were being evacuated, was stressful.

The fires continue to rage and we’re still covered in smoky air in Spokane, waiting for the promise of a wind shift and some rain this weekend, to clear the skies.

A special Spokane dog

If you’re a regular around here, you know my penchant for working with off-camera flash.

I went out with a friend a couple of weeks ago to one of my favorite locations, Saltese Uplands Conservation Area in Liberty Lake.

I wasn’t aiming for dogs in silhouette, but I had my Nikon D750 on continuous burst (are my cameras ever off continuous? erg …). In between recycle on Godox AD200 strobe, I inadvertently got a cool silhouette of this special Spokane dog.

All around the circle

As you may have guessed, the subject for this week’s worldwide pet photographers blog circle is dogs in silhouette.

Let’s go see what work the others are up to. Start with Jessica Wasik with Bark & Gold Photography, celebrating the joy and love between Pittsburgh pets and their people.

Click the link at the bottom of Jessica’s post to get to the next post and so on.

When you get back here to sunsets on the Oregon coast, you know you’re home.

Right where you belong.