Multnomah Falls crashes down a basalt rock formation on the Oregon side of the Columbia River. This Wikipedia article gives information about the geology and history of the falls. I visited a couple of weeks ago. The sunshine felt good and getting out was probably more healing than some of the appointments.
A place of legend
There is a very sad native American legend associated with this beautiful place.
This legend feels even more poignant during the coronavirus pandemic. The idea of human sacrifice seems so ignorant…And yet, on some level, we have.
However, unlike in the legend, the sacrifices are not by brave people choosing to sacrifice themselves. In our times the poor and helpless are being sacrificed to less than noble causes: The Economy (worshiped more than God in today’s world), and the egos of the powerful.
I’d ask: how stupid can people get? But…I really do not want to know the answer.
Technical Information about the Picture
I took this photo with my Sony RX10iv, settings: F 2.4, ISO 100, 1/80s, focal length 8.8 mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm). Also, the exposure compensation was -0.3, because the scene was quite dark. To process the picture I used open-source programs, Raw Therapee and the GIMP.
Black and White
I used built-in processes in the GIMP to create the black and white of this photo. For more information about using the Black and White features in the GIMP check out this post: Black-and-white digital photo processing Part 3: Using the GIMP.
Base layer: Copy of original color image: Colors>Desaturate>Desaturate using the lightness method.
Second layer: Copy of original color image: Colors>Desaturate>Color-to-gray with enhance shadows checked. Blend mode: overlay at 20% opacity, with a vignetted layer mask.
Third layer: New transparent layer: Filters>Light and shadow>Vignette