Oxbow Loop Sunshine

On a recent morning, I made a quick trip to the Oxbow Loop Trail out of North Bend. It's a short and easy loop (less than two miles total). The trail is mostly in the woods, with a few glimpses of the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River, some ponds, and Russian Butte. I was expecting (and hoping for) overcast skies, but the forecasts exaggerated the extent of morning clouds, and I spent my entire time at the Oxbow Loop in full sunshine. This had its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, the angled sunlight was fun to experiment with, and the blue sky made it easier to include hills and mountains in my compositions. On the other hand, the sunlight meant that lighting contrast was high, and I lost some image quality in dark or background areas of most of these images.

First, a hazy view of Russian Butte framed by leaves, mostly of bigleaf maple. This is probably my favorite of the bunch. F/14.

Next, another framed view of Russian Butte, this time with the Middle Fork Snoqualmie just barely visible. I like the framing and the lighting in this one, but I wish the river had been more prominent. F/16.

The trail accesses the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River at one point. My last visit to the trail was in the spring, when the water level was high and there wasn't much of a gravel beach at all. This time of year, the lower water levels make it easy to roam the riverbanks. Here's a view from one of those banks. F/18, 1 second.

Here's another view of the river. I was worried that the large rock at lower left would be too bright, but it's actually okay. I tried a version of this composition without it, standing a few steps to the right. While the lighting was easier to work with, the sense of depth wasn't as compelling. F/18, 1/8 of a second.

Finally, a forest shot with red alder trunks in the foreground. To get good detail in those trunks and some of the other dark areas, I had to overexpose the background highlights just a touch. I can correct for that in Lightroom, to an extent, although the result is never as good as a proper initial exposure. Still, given the difficulty of a forest shot in sunny conditions, I was surprised and gratified that this one worked at all. F/18.

First Hints of Autumn

Last weekend, I visited the Perry Creek trail, which is one of my favorite hikes in general but especially in the fall. The autumn foliage wasn't as far along as I had hoped, but I was able to find a few hints of fall color, as well as other hallmarks of the season such as flowering plants gone to seed.

First, the most interesting image of the bunch - some fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) gone to seed. This is similar to an image I took along the same trail in the fall of 2020 (last image in this post). I don't know that this year's composition is a huge improvement, but I do like the look of the foreground plant better, and I managed to get better detail quality and a more accurate focus point. F/6.3.

Next, two shots looking across the Perry Creek valley, featuring the first hints of fall color. I like the way the first one frames the distant cliff. In the second, I like the perspective, but I think the colors and lighting levels are all too similar to one another, and it ends up not being as compelling as I had imagined it. F/14 and F/16, respectively.

Next, what I think is ocean spray (Holodiscus discolor). I'm not sure whether we're looking at the seeds or the spent flowers. F/5.6.

Finally, some lovely old forest early in the hike, just before the trail breaks out onto the open rocky slopes. F/14.

That's all for now! Even though late spring and early summer scenery is my favorite, I really do look forward to fall hiking. There's usually not too much mud, temperatures aren't too hot, the bugs are gone, and the progression of fall color is fun to follow. Lord willing, I'll get to chase some fall colors soon, so stay tuned!

The Second Last Hurrah of Wildflower Season

It appears I spoke too soon in my last post - I was able to find some more wildflowers! On Saturday, I hiked the Gold Creek trail near Snoqualmie Pass. Even on a nice day during a holiday weekend, the trail was quiet and peaceful, as always. Most of the flowers were long gone for the season, but there were a few lovely displays of fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium) remaining.

First, one such stand of fireweed, looking up the Gold Creek valley. F/18.

Next, a different view from about the same location, looking up the side of the valley. F/16.

Here's a closer view of a remaining fireweed flower. F/7.1.

In this next one, I managed to juxtapose some fireweed blooms against the emerging autumn colors of vine maple. F/6.3.

Finally, a view of a lush valley wall through forest. There are many such scenes along the trail, but they can be hard to photograph due to the high contrast between the dark woods and the bright open areas. I think I managed to make this one work. F/16.