Every fall, I try to hike to Hope and Mig Lakes near Stevens Pass. Due to the colorful ground cover around Mig Lake, and the relative lack of hiker traffic, it's one of my favorite hikes this time of year. I visited yesterday under clear skies. This high-contrast lighting was a challenge in the patchy meadow-and-forest environment around the lakes, but it was fun to have one more summer-like day in the mountains. And a quiet one, at that - for most of the time that I spent at Mig Lake, I had it to myself.
First, a classic shot of Mig Lake with reflections and distant hills visible. The foreground plants are a little bit overexposed, but I think the overall picture still looks okay. F/16.
Here's Mig Lake from the opposite shore. I used my widest lens for this shot, to get more of the grassy foreground in view. I also set up the tripod to have the camera quite low to the ground. This added some depth, and enabled me to keep the camera more level. Tilting the lens downward, as I would have had to do here if the camera had been at shoulder height, would have produced more obvious converging vertical lines, which I didn't want. If you look at the trees, you can see the tree trunks converging a bit, as the lens was still tilted downward slightly, but it isn't too bad. F/14.
Next, a more backlit shot from yet another vantage point at Mig Lake. The contrast is higher than I'd usually prefer, but the angle of the light really brings out the reds and yellows of the foreground. F/16.
Finally, here's an autumnal scene from the Tunnel Creek Trail, with vine maple leaves in the foreground. F/16.
That's all for now! The rain is falling in earnest, and I'm sure scenery and conditions will be changing. But October can be lovely, too! Stay tuned.
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