Return to Paradise, Pt. 1

These images come from a recent midweek camping trip I took in the Mount Baker Highway area. The weather was much sunnier than I would have liked, but this was my last chance to visit that area this year, so I had to make do!

Horseshoe Bend Trail

I arrived in the area during the mid-afternoon of the first day. Not having the time to do anything ambitious, I sauntered on over to the Horseshoe Bend Trail, which departs from the Douglas Fir Campground and travels along the North Fork Nooksack River.

The first image looks up the aforementioned river, which Church Mountain (I think) in the background. I was a bit worried about contrast but it isn't too bad - the sunlit and shaded areas don't line up well horizontally, ruling out the use of a graduated neutral density filter, which I initially considered using. Thankfully, it wasn't necessary. F/14 was enough to put everything in focus, and a shutter speed of 1/3 of a second blurred the water nicely.

The second image is from a somewhat higher viewpoint, with a bigleaf maple in the foreground and red alder branches and trunks also visible. I wanted to portray the lushness of the forest there while still including the river in the composition. F/14 was enough to get everything in focus in this case; a shutter speed of 1 second blurred the water's motion.

Ruth Creek and Hannegan Pass

The first image comes from the road to Hannegan Pass; there are a few spots with views over Ruth Creek to Mount Shuksan. I remembered these views from an earlier trip, but not exactly where they were. When I passed them, I made an odd noise with my voice, reversed the car down the gravel road, and parked to make this image. I was attracted to the side lighting on the mountain, as well as to the fact that Ruth Creek was still shaded, adding to the effect of the early-morning lighting. I used f/20 to put everything in focus and achieve a shutter speed of 1/3 of a second to blur the water.

Now we'll look at my images from the actual trail. Most of them are from the early stretches of the trail, simply because, by necessity, I was at the end of the trail at midday when the lighting was not good. This is unfortunate because the views of Ruth Mountain and other peaks from the final switchbacks to Hannegan Pass are spectacular, as are the wildflowers.

The first image looks up the valley with fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) in the foreground. Being sunlit, the contrast is a bit high, but it was only 9am, so not too bad. I used f/22 to get everything into focus. A polarizing filter helped deepen the blue of the sky and reduce glare from the leaves and flowers.

The second image is of a paintbrush (genus Castilleja). I liked the green-and-red patterns on the bracts (yup, those are the bracts; the flower is small and hidden inside). I used f/4 to blur the background and isolate the paintbrush.

The third comes from one of the forested areas of the Hannegan Pass trail; I liked the way this stream was coming down in several branches from the mossy rocks. I made sure to include the ferns and foamflower in the composition to emphasize the lushness of the scene. F/22 put everything in focus and 2 seconds exposure time blurred and smoothed the falling water.

The last two images are again from the beginning of the trail, this time in the late afternoon. They're similar in concept to an image I took on an earlier trip to the trail (see it here), but the lighting is more angled in these ones and thus more compelling; plus, in the first of these two, I made the addition of including the sun in the composition. In both cases, I used f/22 to put everything into focus. In the first image, the narrow aperture and two other factors - a relatively wide angle and having the sun peeking out from behind a leaf - made the sun as much of a point source of light as possible, getting the ray/star effect that you see.

I am going through a bit of a transition right now and am not sure when I will be able to post Part Two. Hopefully soon. In the meantime, enjoy life and the summer!