Autumn Comes to Baker River

Last weekend, I took advantage of a dry day to visit the Baker River trail in the north Cascades, a year-round favorite of mine due to the lush forests and grand river views. The day was sunnier than expected, but there were enough periods of filtered sunshine to make photography productive. For the most part, the foliage had not begun to turn color, but I found a few hints of fall here and there.

Here's my favorite from the hike, a view of the Baker River itself framed by some foliage starting to turn. F/14, 1/8 of a second.

Next, another view of the river, this time framed by an old tree. In the middle of the image, you can see evidence of times that Lake Creek has flooded, taking trees (and sometimes trail improvements) with it. F/16.

Here is an image I wasn't expecting to turn out well, due to the sunlight streaming through the forest. Thankfully, some passing clouds filtered it just enough to keep the contrast manageable. A devil's club plant starting to turn color anchors the image, and was what attracted me to the scene. F/16.

In the next one, the river is more obscured than in the compositions earlier in the post. I think you can see enough of it, though, to make it interesting. F/16.

Finally, another forest scene. The colors are more muted than I thought they would be, so I don't know that I'm thrilled by this one. F/18.

Emmons Moraine and the White River

Back in the halcyon days of a breathable atmosphere, my girlfriend and I went camping at the White River Campground in Mount Rainier National Park, hiking the Emmons Moraine trail while we were there. Other than a few hours of passing haze, conditions were great and the air was clear. We drove back only to find several wildfires to avoid, smoky skies, and road closures (the return trip took about three times as long as had the journey over). It was a jarring situation after such a fun and peaceful trip.

Emmons Moraine trail

First, the big highlight of the hike, the view over Emmons Moraine itself toward Mount Rainier, glaciers, and the headwaters of the White River. F/14.

The trail crosses the Inter Fork of the White River on a footbridge, and I thought its swift waters might be scenic, despite the harsh sunlight. When photographing moving water, I usually opt for a long exposure to blur the water's motion, but the brightness made that difficult. Thankfully, I like the effect of the faster shutter speed here. F/14, 1/30 second.

Below, an unnamed (I think) lake viewed from the trail. The breezes kept changing the pattern of the sun reflections on the water's surface, so I had to wait a few minutes for this to look the way I envisioned it (and for the sun reflections to not be a solid, overexposed mass). F/18.

White River Campground

I also did some photography in the vicinity of the campground, with both compositions involving the White River in some way. First, a peaceful early morning view. The natural curvature of the trees pictured here has the unintended effect of looking like wide-angle, almost fisheye-type distortion. I'm not sure what the effect is for the average viewer, but for me it's distracting. F/14.

 

Next, a closer view of the turbulent waters of the White River. The sky color is a bit muted, but that's actually a somewhat accurate representation of the scene, as smoke was passing through the air at the time. I'll probably have to do some more work to brighten things up. F/14, 1/25 second.

That's all for now. I'm sure all of my Washington readers are as anxious as I am for the time to come when we can actually breathe outside. When that happens, watch this space for more adventures. Until then, stay safe and hang in there!

Heliotrope Ridge, Gold Creek

Heliotrope Ridge

On Sunday, I hiked the Heliotrope Ridge trail, hoping to catch the tail end of wildflower season. I did indeed find some wildflowers, and a quite dramatic view of Mount Baker's glacier-clad slopes as well. Because of the relative ease of this hike and the good scenic payoff, the greatest challenge of the day was not the abundant sunshine, but my fellow humans. Due to the high number of hikers on the trail, I was hard-pressed to find compositions that didn't include people. Even after returning and looking through my pictures, there were a few that I wasn't able to use due to people in the frame that I hadn't noticed in person. Below are my best results without accidental human intrusion.

First, Heliotrope Creek, along with a few late-season wildflowers. F/14, 1/6 second.

Next, a close view of dwarf fireweed (Chamaenerion latifolium) with a background of lupine. F/9.

Below, a view from the end of the trail, looking up at Mount Baker and the Coleman Glacier. F/14.

Gold Creek

A week earlier, I visited a favorite hike of mine, the Gold Creek trail near Snoqualmie Pass. Due to a combination of winds, brightness, and some poor aperture and focus decisions on my part, most of my compositions turned out badly. Here is the only one I liked at all, a forest shot with devil's club in the foreground. F/6.3.