
The sun was out today and the light was nice. Toward sunset, we climbed up to the top of the Astoria Column, and believe me, by the time I got to the top, all I wanted to do was lean on the railing and look through the camera. With the long zoom, you can see how the buildings from
yesterdays post fit into their niche along the edge of the river. The Tyack Dental Group's building is the big red one on the river bank. The side nearer the camera belongs to a graphics studio. The building in the water is "Big Red," a former net shed that became the art studio of Royal Nebeker. The building was badly damaged in the storm of December 2007. In yesterday's post, you can only see the catwalk leading to the building. Pilings are from former buildings, piers, and platforms, probably all relating to the fishing industry.

Pulling back a little, we get a different perspective. On the left, you can just see the water of the old mill pond, where wood was sawed and processed in days past. Now there's a housing development called "Mill Pond," and the pond still connects to the river. Bald eagles like the treetops on the side of the hill below the column.

With the zoom pulled all the way back, you get a completely different perspective of the river, although I'm shooting the same location. You can barely make out the red buildings from the first two photos, and you can see the partially-shrouded hills of southern Washington four miles across the wide Columbia River. The light color is not an island or clouds, but the pattern made by different currents or by the wind.