It's been a few years since I photographed the coast of Oregon. It was good to do so again, in the company of several photographers, some who were old friends, some who were new, and all of whom I enjoyed spending time with.

Our trip took us from Portland, where we all met, to Astoria, on the northwestern tip of Oregon, down to the vast sand dunes south of the town of Florence, and back to Portland. We were out to push beyond the limits, to think and see and photograph in new ways, portraying images both iconic and unique. And we tried to photograph the people of Oregon. We also had to contend with some overcast and occasionally rainy weather. Although more sun would have been nice, the clouds meant we could photograph all day long, and we ended up with some dramatic light that we could never have had under relentlessly blue skies. It's true: bad weather can help make great photos.

Unfortunately, one person who wasn't with us was the inestimable Ken Rockwell, who had to bow out of the trip. We missed him and one of us would often remark, when we passed a particularly colorful location, that we were seeing a Ken Rockwell photo.

Here, then are some images that can serve as my homage to Ken; he was with us in spirit, if not in the flesh.

Note: Ken and I are putting together a photo trip for this summer (probably late August) in the San Diego area. Bookmark iqtours.com and check it in late June for details. And you can follow me on Facebook here.