Summer in the Mountains

The inaugural post of summer 2015 will celebrate - what else - mountains! I made a trip up to the Chain Lakes trail, hoping to find some vanage points that I would be able to access at good lighting times of this sunny day (within roughly four hours of sunrise and sunset). Remarkably, wildflowers are peaking in the area, and Artist Point itself has much less snow than it did when I visited in late July last year. What a crazy weather year!

First is a shot of Mount Baker (bottom left) and some cool-looking cumulus clouds. I didn't notice these cloud forms at first - I had been working on a decidedly much less interesting perspective of Baker and, when finished, looked around at the sky after I had packed up. A good reminder to always look up and around you when hiking and at vantage points!

Next, an image of Mazama Lake, one of the Chain Lakes. I noticed that the lake reflected a lot more color when the wind was blowing, so for this shot I did the opposite of what I usually do and waited for a breeze to blow. The sunlight enabled me to use a shutter speed of 1/50 second and keep the heather flowers sharp.

Here is a closer shot of some gone-to-seed pasque flower (Anemone occidentalis) with Mt. Shuksan in the background. I found these on the trail up from Bagley Lakes to Herman Saddle. I used f/6.3 to blur the mountain while still keeping it distinguishable.

Below is a view down Bagley Creek with some Sitka valerian flowers in the foreground.

Below is a view from the slope between Ptarmigan Ridge and the lakes, into the Wells Creek drainage. I used a graduated ND filter to darken the sky and reduce contrast.

Below is a shot of some Sitka valerian and mountain spirea with Upper Bagley Lake in the background. Again, this one was taken while a slight breeze was blowing, increasing the sun reflections on the water. I used f/25 to get as much in focus as I could.

Next, two close-ups. The first is what I think is a color variant of small-flowered paintbrush (Castilleja parviflora) given the leaf shape and color. F/4.5.

Next is leatherleaf saxifrage, or Leptarrhena pyrofolia. I think that what I have photographed here are the fruits rather than the flowers. I saw a lot of these plants near lakes and streams.

Finally, the view of Mount Baker from Herman Saddle. I'm not all that enthused about this photograph because the lighting/contrast is rather poor, this image being taken at midday. However, I still wanted to share that great view.

Happy summer!