Snow Day

Yesterday, I hiked to Lake Twenty-Two near Granite Falls. Due to the low angle of the sun, a lot of the trail ends up shaded all day this time of year, so I knew I'd have some good lighting. Moreover, I saw some trip reports showing snow.

I don't get to shoot in snowy conditions all that often, so it's always a fresh challenge. If anything, snow is distracting - the novelty and sheer beauty of it can distract me from the task of finding compelling compositional elements, particularly in the forest. This requires just as much time and thought in the snow as in other conditions. The second challenge is that snow can create issues with contrast and color balance. Some of yesterday's images were quite high-contrast, requiring extra time to get the exposure right, and meaning that they will need work in Lightroom to keep the snow from looking overexposed. In terms of color balance, yesterday's clear weather meant that the snow reflected the blue of the sky. I compensated for that a bit with in-camera settings, but this will also require fine-tuning in Lightroom.

First, two views from the open slope on the climb to the lake.

Just for fun, compare the image above to this one, from the same vantage point in December of 2014. Quite a difference in character!

Next, a view from a shaded portion of that same slope. I thought the snow-covered rocks and boulders in the foreground looked like marshmallows. With some tasteful finessing in Lightroom, I might be able to bring those shapes out even more.

Here's an image from the lake itself. The snow-covered trees and cliffs created an otherwordly atmosphere.

Next, two views of Twenty-Two Creek, with long exposures (4 and 3 seconds, respectively). I am unsure which of these compositions I prefer.

Finally, some images from the old-growth woods along the way. I'd want to do some Lightroom work to bring out the greens and browns a bit more.

Middle Fork

The Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River, while technically nearby, has been off my radar for a long time due to the notoriously rough access road. Now, though, much of the road is paved, and I chose this morning to explore the Middle Fork Trail. I'd like to return to this area with an up-to-date map, as trails and such have been added and rerouted since my hiking guide was written.

First, a view of the Middle Fork itself, a couple-ish miles from the trailhead. This spot isn't on the main trail; I found it via an old route to the river (I think the trail has been rerouted due to flooding/washouts). I may update this post when I get a better map. In any case, I like this picture, with that last bit of autumn color highlighted and the mist in the background. F/22, 1 second.

Next, an image from nearer the trailhead, at the confluence of the Taylor River and the Middle Fork Snoqualmie. I like how the water looks here. F/20, 1.6 seconds.

Next, some trees and cliffs visible from the trail. This image needs a bit of lighting and color work, but it's definitely doable. F/20

Finally, a bare bigleaf maple tree at right with evergreens and cliffs in the background. I'm not sure whether I like this image as well as the others, but it was still a really interesting setting. F/20.

Snoqualmie Valley autumn

I spent this morning poking around the Snoqualmie/North Bend area looking for some fall colors. Fall color in the lowlands of western Washington can be inconsistent, but it's often more photogenic than I expect.

First, a composition that uses the sun. I used an aperture of F/22 and partially obscured the sun with a branch to achieve the ray/star effect. The hazy shape of Mount Si is visible in the background. From the Snoqualmie Valley trail/Three Forks Natural Area.

Next, the Snoqualmie River from the Snoqualmie Valley Trail. This worked surprisingly well for a sunlit shot, in my opinion. F/18.

Next, two river shots from earlier in the morning, at the Three Forks Natural Area, when the sun was still behind the hills.  They'll need some attention to lighting and white balance - what you see here are some preliminary tweaks through the old Picasa program, which helps, but not as much as Lightroom will. F/20.

Finally, two shots from later in the day at a drive-up viewpoint. Contrast is high, but I like how the colors turned out and would be willing to play around with them in Lightroom. These ones look over what I think is at this point the Middle Fork Snoqualmie. Mount Si, of course, is the landform in the background of the first in this pair. F/18, F/20.

Baker River Fall

Yesterday, I visited one of my favorite destinations, the Baker River trail north of Baker Lake. It's my goal to photograph it in every season, and I'd yet to go there in mid-autumn. High country trails get all of the attention this time of year, and for good reason, but there's interesting fall color to be had in the lowlands as well.

First, two views of the forest. Vine maple was really the star of the show, particularly in semi-open areas where it seems the leaves are more likely to take on a reddish color. F/20 in both cases.

Next, a view of Mount Shuksan from Sulphide Creek, at the end of the trail. With some tasteful lighting work in Lightroom, this image will look even better. F/20.

Finally, two views of the Baker River, the first from the bridge and the second nearby, F/18 and F/16. In the second case, I used a shutter speed of 1/3 second to blur the water a bit, but not too much - longer shutter speeds didn't look as nice, as they made the water in the foreground too blurry and indistinct.

Hope and Mig Lakes

Yesterday marked my first trip of the official fall season. I headed to Hope and Mig lakes, which are on the PCT and accessible for a day hike via the Tunnel Creek trail near Stevens Pass. The fall colors, especially up high, were approaching perfection.

First, a colorful scene from the Tunnel Creek trail. F/22.

Next, an image of Hope Lake. The white balance needs some attention, as does the contrast. If I can get those to look better, however, and the lake water to be more discernible, I think I'll like this composition. F/22.

Next, Mig Lake. F/22.

 Finally, a wider view of Mig Lake. I typically eschew shooting in midday sunlight, even this time of year, but this one could be salvageable. This was a middle-of-the-road exposure; I also took exposures darker and brighter than this in case either the highlights or shadows become a problem in editing. F/22.

Summer and Fall

Yesterday, I hiked the Gold Creek trail near Snoqualmie Pass. This late in the season, especially given the dry summer we've had, water levels were low. Thus I was able to continue past the Gold Creek ford, which is my customary stopping point, as I am not comfortable wading through the much stronger waters earlier in the season.

First, two views from the first major open area along the trail. The autumn colors in this spot are particularly flashy at the moment.

Some fireweed gone to seed at the same location:

Farther along the trail, there were fireweed plants still blooming. Here is an image of these flowers, with fall-colored slopes in the distance.

Old-growth forest near the end of the trail:

Lastly, a view looking down currently dry Silver Creek across the Gold Creek valley below.

Naches Peak Loop

A few days ago, I made a trip to the Naches Peak Loop trail near Chinook Pass. Given the clouds and drizzle in the Seattle area, I was hoping for some interesting clouds and diffuse lighting on the trail. Alas, it was bright and sunny, and I got a late start, meaning the lighting conditions were quite harsh during my visit. Still, a couple decent shots worth posting. First, some aster still blooming, along with pasqueflower seed heads. F/22.

Next, a view down to Dewey Lake. Despite the harsh lighting, I was attracted to the colors of the view. You can tell that autumn is on its way. F/20.

Finally, a closeup of what I think is fringed grass-of-Parnassus, or Parnassia fimbriata. F/5.

Seattle Trips

Hello! Here are the images from a couple trips that I've made to Seattle parks this summer.

Hazy Skies

A few days ago, I thought our smoky skies in the Seattle area might present an interesting photographic opportunity. I headed to Magnuson Park, hoping for a nice red sunrise. I added my best images here in chronological order, showing the sunrise's progression. In some cases, the camera gave the sun itself a more yellowish color than was actually present in person. That will be something to experiment with when I go to process the RAW files.

Discovery Park Fireweed

In July, I headed to Discovery Park to photograph the fireweed. My images from this trip are similar compositionally to images I've taken in other years, but I think I was able to manage better lighting and image quality this time around. They'll still take some time to process, as images always seem to when they involve clear skies.

North Cascades part 2: Landscapes

Here are the landscapes from my recent trip. I was blessed with fairly good conditions for photography - some clouds in and out, and frequent lulls in the breeze.

Maple Pass Loop

Here's the classic view of the area, looking down through heather meadows to Lake Ann. There's a bit of perspective distortion here, due to the wide focal length and downward angle, but I think this composition lends itself relatively well to that. F/20.

Next, some paintbrush and penstemon with Lake Ann in the background. F/22.

Same deal here, with cow parsnip as the featured flower. F/22.

One more lake shot, with a wider array of flowers in the foreground. F/16.

Next is a view from near Maple Pass, looking into the national park. F/18. The views up here are unreal. Plus, you can watch the orographic effect in action: looking to the southwest, I could see showers drifting in and out through green, snowy mountains (as in this image). Looking in the other direction, I watched the clouds breaking up over much drier-looking peaks.

Here is another scene near Maple Pass, downhill on the steep side. I like how things are placed in the image, but the perspective distortion is quite visible in the trees. I might be able to correct some of this via Lightroom, but I'm not sure how much. Perhaps a square crop would lessen this problem by eliminating the more highly distorted trees on the right-hand side, but square images aren't as versatile. F/22.

Blue Lake

Finally, two views of Blue Lake, accessible via a comparatively short and gentle trail. F/22 in both cases. I'll have to brighten up the left side of the first one, but it'll probably be doable.