Living in Portland, Oregon, I’ve been lucky to be exposed to waterfalls all my life. I’ve grown up hiking the many trails in the Columbia River Gorge, so I know the area like my own backyard. It wasn’t until 2017 that I began getting into shooting action sports, like kayaking, in these amazing locations. I’d shot Dane Jackson on many other waterfalls in the area in 2017 and 2018, but the 2019 spring brought huge rains to the Pacific Northwest, meaning flows were in for kayaking.
Dane messaged me about a week before, and we rallied all week, running multiple waterfalls a day. On this day in particular, it was stormy, and the water level was just right. Getting this shot was harder than expected. You can’t see the top of the falls, so you really have no idea when the kayaker is going to drop. With all of the spray from the waterfall, I had to keep wiping my lens, hoping that I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to hit this shot. Luckily, I timed things just right and walked away with this photo of Dane Jackson.
Austin James Jackson

About the shot

Biography
Austin James Jackson is a self-made landscape photographer who divides his time between
Portland and Sisters, Oregon. His exceptional skills with the camera are self taught. He has
been an outdoor enthusiast for as long as he can remember. However, his passion in
photography came about right after high school, when he was gifted a camera and began
photographing nature. Austin’s passion for the outdoors shows through in his photography,
and each image attempts to recreate the scene from that particular day.
Austin’s knack for catching the perfect light or an amazing sunset helps him produce some of
the most compelling images. However, Austin isn’t just a photographer. More than anything, he
enjoys getting away from the regular ways of life and enjoying the environment around him. It
would not be uncommon to find him standing in an icy river in his wetsuit during a winter
storm, or on a lengthy backpacking trip in the summer. Austin has always had high
expectations for himself and loves tackling new challenges as often as possible.