u/markgravesdesign

Last weekend’s perfectly postured and suspiciously evenly spaced dog pack, sitting at attention on my back porch in Portland during sunset on Sept. 26.

From left: Tank, Toby, Ava the golden and Viggo.
((Viggo and Toby are mine. Ava and Tank came over for the weekend.))

I’m still not sure whether Ava was lucky or unlucky. She got to spend four days surrounded by male German shepherds, all of whom have very large personalities and very few opinions they keep to themselves.

She's such a good dog! Might be the best golden retriever I’ve ever watched.

The pup is examining a camera I installed in the SE portion of Portland’s Hazelwood neighborhood last July. I finally pulled the memory card over the weekend. It has around 4,000 15-second video clips — mostly of tall grass blowing in the wind.

This is one of the first videos. Hope it’s a good sign that more cool captures are still to come.

Scenes from a rally yesterday in Salem, where Oregonians from every political corner of the state gathered and called for a statewide data center moratorium.

Hey, fellow GSD fans! I’m hoping you can help me out. I’m struggling with these backlit photos and need help deciding which direction to go.

If you had to print one and hang it on a wall in your home, which would it be? Remember, you’d have to look at the thing every day. Ignore what anyone else thinks—I want to know which one you personally would pick.

Photos are of my dogs Viggo and Toby at the Franklin HS down the street 2 days ago.

Makes me feel guilty to see the dog run out of gas so fast! Both Viggo and I should be running more. I'm so out of shape, we'd probably be perfect running partners. Or Toby can pull us.

I’ve photographed a lot of eclipses, but I struggled with this one. Very little moonlight, lots of PM2.5 in the air, light pollution and no tripod made it a challenge. I also had no idea it was happening until a friend texted me: “Go look outside.”

Toby and Viggo at the back door, debating whether to go outside so they can come back inside, then go back outside, then come back inside, then go back outside again and so forth, all day, every day, forever.

https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2026/08/one-young-wolf-two-close-encounters-and-a-journey-hundreds-of-miles-long.html

Like birds, whales and other far-ranging species, wolves are remarkable travelers. They cross hundreds — sometimes thousands — of miles through unfamiliar country, with a million ways to die along the way.

OR-213 is a good example, and he’s just getting started. Before setting out, the 16-month-old wolf had already outlived all his siblings. In the short time since leaving the Indigo Pack, he has traveled hundreds of miles. Halfway through writing this quick story, he had moved another 50 miles in just 30 hours.

The story is about the back-to-back close encounters he had with two Bend couples last Sunday, why young wolves embark on such long journeys and how OR-213’s travels compare with those of other Oregon wolves that came before him.

It includes video of OR-213, along with photos and stories of other long-distance wolves — including one tracked for more than 7,600 miles

Another week, another round of canines. Meet the wonderful Tank. Gorgeous dog. He's a big non-aloof goof. Loves to play all day everyday. Around 4 years years old. Other two shepherds are my own. Photo bomber is Kai the Corgi

https://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/2026/08/watch-from-inside-a-dozer-on-oregons-grasshopper-fire-dufur-on-level-2.html

The post includes lots of visuals from the fire including a video of a dozer driving with flames and firefighters on both sides.

The Grasshopper fire had reached 77,311 acres by Tuesday, with containment at 20% and 1,680 people assigned to the response. The previous day, the Oregon State Fire Marshal put the lightning-caused fire at 63,659 acres and 23% containment.

Visuals are courtesy of the Grasshopper Fire incident management team.