Living Wilderness: Circles, Upper Beaver Creek Falls, Oregon

Dramatic nature photography that captures a living wilderness. By Kevin Ebi.

Circles, Upper Beaver Creek Falls, Oregon

Fallen leaves seem to be trapped in a vortex beneath Upper Beaver Creek Falls in Oregon. The splash pool beneath the waterfall is blocked by a beaver dam, causing the water to circle before it's able to spill over the dam.

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Circles, Upper Beaver Creek Falls, Oregon

Notes from the field

It's amazing how much the seasons can affect an image. The water flow is much stronger in the spring, but it's autumn and the fallen leaves trapped in the circular motion that make this image. The rest of the year, some bubbles make a few laps of the splash pool before going over the dam, but even with a long exposure, the circle is faint. I used to stop by this waterfall whenever I drove out to the northern Oregon coast, but unfortunately the dam collapsed a few years ago.