2017: Year in Review and New Year's Resolutions

It's that time of year again! Here are two of my favorite images from this year, from the Big Four Ice Caves trail and Deception Pass State Park. They don't fit in any of my post's sections, so I thought I'd just stick them at the beginning. Welcome!

2017 is behind us, and not a moment too soon! In all seriousness, 2017 was a good year for photography. My return to regular employment meant less time for reading and writing, but more financial resources to support hiking and camping trips. So I was able to make better use of my time in this way, with some exceptions: Things had a bit of a lull in late summer and early fall, as the persistent smoke was getting me down a bit. The smoke can make for pretty sunrises or sunsets in the right conditions, but the diminished visibility and unpleasant breathing, particularly in the Cascades, chipped away at this advantage.

I had another lull in late fall, but this was necessary and will end up benefitting my photography in the long run: I spent some time getting a new vehicle! My Ford Taurus, which I had owned since 2009, pooped out on me in May when a cylinder misfired on the Vantage hill. I was able to limp home and drag this reluctant jalopy through the rest of the season, but this problem - which the mechanics never figured out - was the last straw in a pattern of mounting headaches and repair costs. I've invested in a Subaru with relatively low miles on it, which will hopefully serve me better.

Let's get down to business. How did I do on last year's goals? Let's have a look.

Last Year's Resolutions

1) Black and White - well, this didn't really happen. I have no excuse other than I simply lost track of this goal. I will say, however, that I used color in some interesting ways, as you'll see below.

2) New Modes of Transportation - yes! I successfully experimented with photography via bicycle. I did so on the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, once in May and once in late summer. My May trip was much more successful artistically - the later trip was doomed by unexpected smoke/haze and some sort of marathon taking place on the otherwise usually quiet trail. In any case, I am happy to say that this worked, and hope that I will be able to use this tactic in 2018.

Here are two landscapes from that May trip:

3) Skies, Meteorology, Moon, Etc - Somewhat. Nothing too ambitious on this front, although I had a few interesting results with dawn and skies. The moon was definitely on my radar, but I had trouble getting moon phases, weather, and an open schedule to line up.

First, here's one of my favorite images from this year, a view from Hurricane Ridge Road in Olympic National Park at dawn. I used a graduated neutral density filter to even out the contrast between the sky and the trees/hills. I should do more dawn shots like this.

Next, here's an autumn view of Mount Shuksan, partially shrouded by clouds. The clouds cover more of the mountain than I'd prefer, but I think it works. The trees are also interesting.

Here's a cloudy spring scene from the Baker River valley in North Cascades. This is one of my favorite locations, and I like the lush feel of this composition:

While at Fields Spring State Park in May (more on that below), I was able to include some interesting cumulus clouds in a few compositions. Here's the best:

4) Continue Learning - Less so than I had hoped. 2017 was busier than 2016, with less time for independent nonfiction reading. I did start reading an anthology of essays about ideas behind wilderness and conservation, and I am hoping to dig more into this in 2018. I have developed a reading list of several such anthologies, as well as some local history.

Highlights of 2017

Reflection - This is, I think, my first good mountain reflection composition. The mountain is Big Four, near the Big Four Ice Caves picnic area. The contrast was tricky to get right, as was adequate polarization - I wanted enough to deepen the sky, but not enough to cut out the reflection from the water.

Spring Break trip - I had a very enjoyable Spring Break this year; I visited the Columbia Gorge and some locations in eastern Washington. The cold and wet character of early spring meant that the wildflowers were not as far advanced as I had expected. Nevertheless, the early spring scenery was interesting in its own way.

Here is an interesting forest scene from the Catherine Creek area in the Gorge, with prairie star in the foreground:

And here is Coyote Wall, also in the Gorge:

In eastern Washington, I visited the Hog Lake area, which I had seen on maps but never had a chance to explore:

Finally, I visited Kamiak Butte near Pullman, which was like seeing an old friend. The grass widow on the summit were unbelievable. Also unbelievable was the amount of time it took to make this composition work - I had to wait for the breeze to quiet down enough to get the flowers sharp.

Here's another fun image from Kamiak Butte: some new growth springing up on the forest floor. I busted out the heavy artillery for this one - my ultra-wide zoom lens.

Memorial Day trip - For Memorial Day weekend, I made the long drive to Fields Spring State Park, south of Lewiston. Despite the fact that my car gave me serious issues on the way back, this was still a solid trip. While I'll certainly never complain about sunshine, part of me hopes to visit Fields Spring  again under some different weather. I've been there a lot in sunny conditions, and some more clouds would be a fresh challenge here.

Bucket List trips - Over the summer, I made successful visits to two iconic Washington destinations. The first was the Hurricane Ridge area in Olympic National Park, a visit that I timed for peak wildflowers. I did some photography near the visitor center, as well as on the Hurricane Hill trail. The highlight of this trip was the fact that I was able to do some dawn and early morning photography in very scenic spots. You've already seen my dawn shot from the road; I'm also quite fond of the first two of this set:

Later in the summer, I camped along North Cascades Highway and made the Maple Pass Loop and Blue Lake hikes. I've long wanted to visit these locations. Here are my best compositions, the first three from the Maple Pass loop and the fourth from Blue Lake:

Wildflowers - I photographed a lot of new wildflowers this year, to the extent that I won't be able to post them all, just a few of the best.

First, here is Brown's peony (Paeonia brownii), one of two species of peony native to the U.S. I found this one at Fields Spring State Park.

For once, I got a good image of trillium (Trillium ovatum)! I've seen these flowers all over the state, and finally photographed one successfully:

Next, pasqueflower (Anemone occidentalis). These plants are more renowned for their interesting seed heads than for their flowers, but I find the flowers and leaves quite attractive together.

Plants in other stages - I snagged a couple interesting closeups of plants in stages other than bloom.

First, I really like this closeup of an emerging salmonberry. I find the colors quite interesting:

Next, red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) opening up.

Sunny snow day - My opportunities to photograph in the snow are relatively few, and it can be challenging - both technically, due to the high contrast, and mentally due to the sheer novelty of snow for me. Nevertheless, I had what I thought was a very successful day on the Lake Twenty-Two trail:

The many stages of fall - This year, I made some compositions that convincingly depict both early autumn and late autumn. First is the Gold Creek trail in early autumn, with still-blooming fireweed set against colorful slopes in the distance. Second is the last gasp of fall color along the Middle Fork Snoqualmie River.

Forest - I'm continuing to refine my ability to create compositions in forest settings. As I've written on numerous occasions, forests can be tricky for photography due to the difficulty of isolating compelling elements from the thick tangle of plants and trees. Below are some compositions that manage to do this, in ways different from ones in previous years.

First, a view from the Baker Lake trail with red elderberry (Sambucus racemosa) in the foreground. I like the balance between those flowers in the foreground and the maple trunks/branches in the background.

Next, another view from the Baker Lake trail, this time with some boulders to complement the trees:

Here is another fun vertical composition, from the Old Sauk trail near Darrington:

An autumn view from the Tunnel Creek trail near Stevens Pass:

Lastly, a view across the Middle Fork Snoqualmie valley from a somewhat more open area in the forest. I like the starkness of this composition, and the clarity of the cliffs in the background.

Water - Another theme that appears to me while reviewing the year is that I managed some good compositions involving water, either as a main subject or as a backdrop.

First, a long exposure of some waves at Carkeek Park on a frigid morning in January. I've had trouble in the past getting good compositions with waves. This one improves on them because it uses space well and has a good background (the Olympics). Previously, I've shot waves that were attractive but simply didn't take up enough of the frame to make the composition worthwhile.

Next, Indian plum blossoms with a creek in the background, in Flaming Geyser State Park. Shots like this, with an out-of-focus but discernible background, require a lot of care with subject placement and aperture selection. In this case, a middle-of-the-road F/10 did the trick.

The Sauk River, along the Old Sauk Trail near Darrington, another long exposure:

Elliot Creek, along the trail to Goat Lake. This isn't an amazing show-stopper, but it's nice, and I'm proud of it because Elliot Creek is hard to photograph. Views of the creek from the trail are frequently obscured by leaves, trees, etc.

Here's the Baker River in the fall, from the footbridge:

Finally, Twenty-Two Creek in the snow, along the Lake Twenty-Two trail. The snow helped simplify the forest part of the composition, in my opinion.

New Year's Ideas for 2018 - Notice that change in terminology? This year, I think I'll pass on holding myself accountable. Seriously, though, there is a lot of uncertainty as to how 2018 will turn out logistically, so I don't know what opportunities I'll have in each season. Thus, instead of making hard-and-fast "resolutions," I'm going to throw out some hopes and ideas.

1) New locations. I'm hoping to visit some new areas of the state; possibilities might be the east Olympic Mountains, new areas of the Blue Mountains, north-central or northeast Washington, the San Juan Islands, or even some new spots in the north Cascades. My new vehicle will open up some possibilities for me. Hopefully, I will have the time this spring and summer for the longer trips that would make these locations accessible.

2) Backpacking. I would love to make this happen, photography on a backpacking trip, and I think I have the gear to make it work. Hopefully, I'll be able to try at least an overnight. It would be so great to photograph some wilderness locations (e.g. lakes with mountain views) closer to dawn or dusk.

3) A return to selective focus. You may have noticed that nearly all of the images I've featured in this post, with the exception of the flower closeups, have been wide depth of field. Doing landscapes this way is generally a good idea, but I want to do a bit more experimentation with a narrow depth of field, as I did in the landscape below:

4) Waterfalls. It has occurred to me that I've done rather little waterfall photography, particularly in 2017. In 2016 I successfully visited Sol Duc Falls, but there hasn't been much other than that. I want to find more sweet waterfalls in 2018!

5) Bad weather. I always consider it a good idea to include more skies and meteorological phenomena in my compositions; this year, I particularly want to photograph some landscapes in rain, dark clouds, etc. Of course, with my luck, my desire for a bit of bad weather will probably fate me to sunshine. I'll consider it a win-win.

6) Dawn and dusk. I really need to do more photography at dawn and dusk. This can be exhausting, particularly in the summer, and I'm also not all that comfortable with hiking in the dark. Even so, the times I managed dusk and dawn photography in 2017 were worthwhile, and I need to do more.

7) Involvement or venues. There was basically none of this in 2017. I'd like to enter more contests, have an exhibition, find an organization that has use for my photos, etc. Furthermore, I also have some ideas for unique products that I could conceivably create for sale this year, but I don't want to let the proverbial cat out of the proverbial bag just yet.

Happy New Year, everyone!