David Lee Myers Photo     www.davidleemyersphoto.com

One day on the River Walk in 2003, I noticed Big Red appearing beyond a concrete fixture which reminded me of an altar. By stepping down the bank and lining up just right, I could visually place Big Red on that altar, suggesting its sacred role in our community.

Big Red is all about water. Built to support commercial fishing on our river, it stands on pilings far from shore—water ebbing and flooding underneath. Today it houses artists’ studios—and when I worked in the building, it sways and creaks with the motions of the water. The Columbia’s winds shake it and carry the fragrances of a great river. The December, 2007 hurricane blew the third floor roof and most of Royal Nebeker’s painting studio into the river.

Digital composites express several aspects of my experiences of a subject: the old three-story Big Red, the post-hurricane windows to the sky, and the largest element, the River. The windows, water, and compositing are 2009 work.

Juror’s First Place awarded by Royal Nebeker, in RiverSea Gallery’s Big Red: Revisited. 2009, Astoria, Oregon.

Big Red is in the Columbia River, Astoria, Oregon. 2003, 2009.

A long view to the west from Astoria’s Smith Point found this car carrier ship heading towards the Columbia River Bar. The Columbia River from Smith Point, Astoria, Oregon. 2003.

Looking up the Columbia River from the Astoria—Megler bridge. Washington on the left, Oregon on the right. 2007.

Looking up the Columbia River from the Astoria—Megler bridge. Tongue Point is to the left of center, and to the right is a freighter ship anchored at Astoria. Between Oregon and Washington, 2007.

Sunlight sparkles on the water as salmon swim up the fish ladder to their home hatchery. This “white salmon” variety has lighter flesh and darker skin than others, giving the name to the White Salmon River where it originates.

Spring Creek National Hatchery near White Salmon, Washington. 2009.

West Mooring Basin, Astoria, Oregon, 2009.

West Mooring Basin, Astoria, Oregon, 2009.

West Mooring Basin, Astoria, Oregon, 2009.

The City of Astoria built a River Walk along its waterfront. Informal trails loop around some inlets from the river. Oregon. 2011.

Male Bufflehead duck. The City of Astoria built a River Walk along its waterfront. Informal trails loop around some inlets from the river. Oregon. 2011.

The City of Astoria built a River Walk along its waterfront. Informal trails loop around some inlets from the river. Oregon. 2011.

Buoy 35A is just upstream from the Astoria-Megler Bridge. Gale force winds closed the Columbia River this December day. I could not stand in this wind—I had to sit down to photograph without being pitched into the water. From the waterfront, Astoria, Oregon, 2006.

Wake from the Clatsop Community College’s training boat Rorerunner, in Cathlamet Bay on the east side of Tongue Point, Astoria. Columbia River, 2008.

Photographed from the piers of downton Astoria, Oregon. 2010.

The Columbia River in Pacific County, Washington, looking from Megler to the hills above Grays Point. In the 1940s, these pilings, where the highway from the Astoria–Megler Bridge turns away from the river and heads for Naselle, held what was touted as the world’s largest sawmill. 2001.