Damp Day at Baker River

This morning, I headed to one of my favorite places, the Baker River trail in the north Cascades, wondering whether I could take advantage of the low snow levels in any way. It was raining, snowing, or some combination of the two for almost the entire morning. Nevertheless, I was able to take advantage of a couple lulls for a few nice compositions.

First, a view of the Baker River and hills beyond from near the trailhead, with a vertical and horizontal composition. I'm not sure which I prefer. F/18, 0.8 and 0.4 seconds respectively.

Second, a shot looking through mossy trees and such. The ravine of a creates a bit of an opening in the forest at this spot, making a composition like this feasible. I like how the rain and clouds diffuse the distant trees. F/16.

Spring arrives

Yesterday, I had the afternoon free and celebrated St. Patrick's Day by visiting the greenest place I could get to on the spur of the moment: Saint Edward State Park. Spring is arriving in the forest, with Indian plum (Oemleria cerasiformis) in full bloom. Conditions were perfect when I set out (cloudy and still), but quickly "deteriorated" to sunny and breezy. Still, I snagged this image while the lighting was still good. I made a similar composition last year at almost the exact same location on trail, but this one has the distinction of some actual blossoms in the foreground, as opposed to just leaves. F/8.

Ebey's Landing

Yesterday, I decided to celebrate the nice weather and the time change with a drive to Whidbey Island to catch the sunrise and do the Ebey's Landing hike. The sunrise on the beach was incredible, but my images weren't quite up to snuff, since I arrived just a couple minutes later than I would have liked and didn't have enough time to think through good compositions. I snagged a couple other nice pictures, though.

First, here's a view from the trail up on the bluff, looking out toward the Olympic mountains. F/20.

And here's a shot from near the beginning of the hike. Even with the nice early light, the contrast was quite high and editing this one was a challenge. I'm still going to consider it a work in progress. F/22.

Hello 2018!

Although it took quite a bit longer than I would have liked, I got out this morning for my first photography adventure in 2018! Due to a hectic workweek and a dearth of time for planning and preparation, as well as getting over a cold, it was a short and sweet local jaunt to Carkeek Park for sunrise.

Even so, I think it was well worth it. First, a shot out toward Puget Sound and the Olympics at sunrise, with Pipers Creek in the foreground. F/16, 1/1.3 seconds.

Next, I took a bit of a risk with an image of some Indian plum leaves in the foreground, with the Olympics and Puget Sound out of focus in the background. F/10 was the best middle ground between selectivity and discernible shape in the mountains; I would have liked to go a bit narrower with the aperture but the shutter speed was dicey enough in the breeze as it was.