Like the last time I visited the Lake Ann trail, I never made it to the lake - this time be design, as I knew I would be at the lake during mostly-useless (particularly so at an open location like the lake) midday lighting. Even as it was, I arrived later than I would have liked, but with lighting still acceptable for landscapes - within about three hours of sunrise. I've heard some use the rule of thumb that as long as your shadow is at least as long as you are tall, you have good lighting, and that usually works fairly well.
The first pair of images show basically the same perspective, with one using the sun and one not. I haven't decided which I like better - including the sun itself is always compelling, but the second image has less dead space. In both cases, I used f/22, to get everything in focus and achieve the star/ray effect in the sun. I also used a polarizing filter. I've read in a few places that it's unnecessary to use one when looking directly toward the sun, but it can still sometimes reduce glare from leaves and other surfaces, as it did in this case. The mountain in the background is Shuksan.
The image below is very similar to one I took last year at the same location (see it here). The contrast is higher in this one, but the side/backlighting gives this one more depth. F/25 to get everything in focus (at least as much as possible - the background is still not quite as sharp as I'd prefer).
Despite the early hour of the next landscape, the contrast was quite high. I like the composition, though, and think it might be worth some experimentation in Lightroom. I used f/22 to get both the valerian flowers and the background mountain in focus.
Now we'll move on to some closeup/detail shots from the trail. These are easier to do all day because you need only a small shaded area to achieve good lighting, and you have more ability to even shade the shot yourself if need be.
For the first one, a grass or sedge of some kind/ F/4.5.
The next image is of western red columbine (Aquilegia formosa) - don't need a book for that one! I liked how these blossoms were clustered in sort of a line. I used f/3.3 to isolate the front flower as much as I could.
Below is foamflower (Tiarella trifoliata, I think). There's a bit of dead space on the bottom left, unfortunately, but otherwise I like this one. And I've never gotten a respectable image of foamflower before, despite the fact that it's incredibly common. I stopped down slightly to f/5.6, as the background was still blurred adequately.
This flower belongs to a shrub that I found in my plant guide a while ago, but didn't write down, and now that guide is buried. I'll update this post when I get a chance next week to dig it back out. I liked how dark the background was; I think that really brings out the flower and the leaf patterns. The white balance is a bit warm, but that's an easy problem to fix in Lightroom when editing from RAW. F/3.5 to isolate the flower as much as possible.
Artist Point
On the last evening of my trip, I visited the viewpoint of Artist Point for evening and sunset lighting. The first image looks at Mount Baker itself. I liked how the view was not just of the mountain but also of cliffs and steep slopes surrounding it. I included trees in the composition to add some depth. F/22 to get it all in focus. In this and all my other blue-sky images of the post, I used a polarizing filter to deepen the blue of the sky. (In some cases, not too much, though...I'll explain later.)
The next image looks down the Swift Creek Valley; Baker Lake is in the background. When I unpack my maps next week or something, I'll figure out what peak that is in the background and update the post. F/22 to keep everything in focus, from the foreground tree to the far background. I included the foreground tree in the composition for some depth/contrast.
Next, we return to Mount Baker, with the leaves of some sort of mountain ash (genus Sorbus) in the foreground. (As with my maps, my plant ID books are all packed away so that'll have to do for now! I'll update this post if I get it figured out.)
Below is Mount Baker again, this time at sunset. I zoomed up on the mountain to call attention to the smaller sunlit areas. I included a bot of the ridge at the lower right for some depth. I used a polarizing filter, but didn't rotate it all the way as I sometimes do, because the sky would have looked odd. (Mountain air is often more responsive to polarization, perhaps because the air is clearer. Under the right conditions, at the right time of day and at the right angle from the sun, you can make a blue sky look black with it!)
Below are two almost identical shots of Mount Shuksan, with Shuksan Arm in front of it, just before and just after sunset, respectively. I love how rapidly the colors change at sunset. Again, I used a polarizing filter; I was facing almost directly away from the sun, so its effects were not as dramatic as they would have been had I been at a right angle.
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