A large rocky sea stack rises from a sandy beach with calm ocean waters and overcast skies in the background.
Cannon Beach Oregon coastline with iconic Haystack Rock and sea stacks rising from sandy shore under overcast skies.
Massive Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, Oregon, with ocean waves and wet sand reflection on an overcast day.
Two tall sea stacks rise from a sandy beach under overcast skies, with gentle waves and wet sand in the foreground.

Cannon Beach, Oregon

Photographing Haystack Rock was not on my 2026 bingo card. I've always admired all the images and content that come across my feed of Oregon's stunning coastal views, and I feel extremely grateful that my phone's low storage problem is due to Haystack filling up my camera roll. I think when I look back at the images I capture of Haystack in five years I won’t think “wow, that’s a pretty photo,” but instead I think I’ll remember the unexpected adventure I had that day.

Here are three things that you might not know, I'm not a fan of driving in the dark, I don’t have much experience driving in the rain, and I am afraid of heights. Little did I know I would be conquering multiple fears at 5 a.m. to snap some pictures. I drove two hours in the dark, in the rain, across multiple bridges to get to Haystack from Kalama, Washington. When I first arrived, it was still drizzling a bit and chillyyy. I snapped a few photos from the road above and then decided to head to a local coffee shop. (Shout-out to Insomnia Coffee Co. for a warm seat, yummy coffee, pumpkin spice scone, and additional recs for my adventure!) After some coffee I headed to Cannon Beach where for the next two hours all I did was take photos, I stopped by Elk Flats Trail where I solo adventured a mini hike for more photos and then got ready for my long drive back to Washington. If I thought driving in the dark was scary at 5 a.m. , seeing the Lewis and Clark Bridge on the way back in broad daylight was much scarier. I gaslit myself into thinking surely I would not have to cross THAT bridge, but when the road turned and the GPS clearly showed I was in fact going to have to cross that bridge, I pumped the volume all the way up to the song that was already playing (yes, it was in fact KPop Demon Hunters, and no, I was not feeling very “Golden” in the moment lol). I told myself I had technically driven this bridge once, what’s a second time. I Sang/screamed “Golden” and made it back to the hotel in one piece.

As viewers, when we look at an image we often assign a value to it, or sometimes when we take a photo we don’t really know the true value of it until years later. I’m proud of myself for braving things that, although they might not scare you, very much scared me. And because of it, I do get to show you some pretty pictures. I hope you enjoy my take on the famous Oregon Coast.

All the best

-Summer

Behind the lens

 

Rocky sea stacks emerge from Pacific Ocean waves, viewed through coastal grasses and evergreen trees from a clifftop overlook.
Massive Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, Oregon, with a sea cave at its base, reflected on wet sand under overcast skies.
Dramatic coastal cliffside with lush green hills overlooking a vast ocean under overcast skies.
Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, Oregon, captured in moody black and white tones under overcast skies.
A moody overcast beach with wet sand, rocky cliffs, and distant figures along a grey shoreline.
A dramatic rocky sea stack rises from a misty Oregon coastline beach with calm gray ocean waters in the background.