Watson Lakes

Last week, I made the long drive to the Baker Lake area to check out the hike to Watson Lakes, a trail of moderate length and elevation gain (but with a few roots and tripping hazards, much to the chagrin of my right ankle). In contrast to my last outing to the North Cascades, a hike along the Maple Pass Loop under consistently overcast skies, sunshine and frequent breezes characterized this trip. Indeed, my two most promising landscape compositions didn't work well enough for me to post them here at all - sunlit white Sitka valerian flowers were in the foreground, and the contrast was so high that the flowers were overexposed and the detail quality in the darker areas of the images was rather poor.

Nevertheless, a few images turned out well. First, here is a closeup of pink monkey-flower, or great purple monkey-flower (Erythranthe lewisii). I've tried to photograph these flowers before, unsuccessfully; it was nice to have this one work! F/5.

Next, a view of the easternmost of the two Watson Lakes. F/14.

From a rare moment of partial cloudiness, a view of the westernmost of the Watson Lakes through old timber. F/14.

Finally, the easternmost of the Watson Lakes, with subalpine spiraea blooming in the foreground. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. The image quality isn't great due to the high contrast of the lighting. Furthermore, the lake shore and trees beyond seemed to highlight lens and perspective distortion - so much so that I thought only a square crop would be suitable. Still, this one might work at a small or moderate print size (say, 8x8 or 12x12).