Bright Day at Emmons Moraine

On Saturday, I hiked the Emmons Moraine trail, a favorite of mine on a clear day due to the great views of Mount Rainier, Little Tahoma, and the headwaters of the White River. I had been there twice before, in June 2019 and again in September 2020. Just like those earlier visits, I had to contend with harsh lighting. Nevertheless, it was a fun challenge to try to find new perspectives on the place.

First, my favorite shot of the day: Mount Rainier over the White River, near the campground. Due to the brightness of the scene, I surmised that my usual strategy of trying to blur the water's motion with a slow shutter speed would be unsuccessful. Instead, I aimed for as fast of a shutter speed as I could manage with decent depth of field. F/14, 1/160 of a second.

As I mentioned earlier, I'd been to Emmons Moraine twice before, both times under sunny skies, and I didn't want my pictures to look identical to those from the earlier visits. So I did a little experimenting with narrow-depth-of-field shots. Here's one with a pine tree in the foreground, and Little Tahoma in the background. F/6.3.

Next, another image with a similar narrow-depth-of-field concept, looking down the White River valley. F/5.6.

Below, two more "conventional" shots of the Emmons Moraine area, with a wide depth of field. Compositionally, I think they're my best yet, although the harsh lighting is even more of a problem and might merit some additional fine-tuning. Both F/18.

Finally, a view across the White River valley from the trail. I wish the foreground leaves and background trees were more distinct from each other in the lower third of this image, but I still like the composition. F/14.

Rainy Day at Greenwater

Last weekend, I hiked to the Greenwater Lakes near Enumclaw. I chose this short, easy hike because rain was predicted to fall in the afternoon, and I wanted to have as much quality photography time as possible earlier in the day. Although it did indeed rain, and maybe a bit earlier than forecast, it wasn't as much of a problem as I expected. Generally speaking, the rain was light and intermittent until mid-afternoon, and the dense old-growth forest canopy offered protection.

First, the Greenwater River itself. F/16, 0.4 seconds.

Next, a calmer stretch of the Greenwater River, near one of the lakes. F/18.

Next, calypso orchid (Calypso bulbosa) blooming on the forest floor. These can be hard to photograph, because the forest floor environment in which they grow tends to be dark and visually unappealing. But openings in the canopy and moss on the forest floor solved these problems. F/7.1.

Here's another flower that brightened the otherwise overwhelmingly green environment: vine maple (Acer circinatum). One of the Greenwater Lakes is in the background; I would have liked it to be more clearly discernible than it is, but I still like this composition. F/14.

I'm a big fan of hiking in old-growth forests, so the trail's big trees are always a treat. Here's a shot of a particularly impressive Douglas fir, with a cedar in the background. F/16.

Here's another forest shot, with devil's club in the foreground. F/18.

Lastly, I took a couple pictures of the Greenwater Lakes themselves. Here's the first, with vine maple in the foreground. F/18.

And below, the second of the Greenwater Lakes. F/14.

Along the Sauk River

Over Memorial Day weekend, my girlfriend and I were fortunate enough to stay at a campsite at the Bedal Campground near Darrington. When I booked the trip (months ago), I had high hopes that the Mountain Loop Highway would be fully open, allowing access to Goat Lake and hikes on the south side of the loop like Perry Creek. Alas, the segment between Bedal and Barlow Pass remained closed to vehicles. As a result, hiking options were rather limited. Thankfully, the Mountain Loop Highway immediately south of the campground made for excellent road walking - mountain and river views and even some old growth. We also managed to get out on one true "hike," which I'll get to later in the post.

Bedal Campground and Vicinity

First, the South Fork Sauk River and a mountain beyond (maybe the Twin Peaks? I'm not sure). F/18, 0.4 seconds.

Here's the same view, horizontal. Somehow, I don't find it as convincing - I don't think the composition leads the eye to the mountain as well. But it's still fine, and would be the one to use in something like a calendar. F/18, 0.4 seconds.

Next, a small stream along the Mountain Loop Highway. I was worried about the lighting being too harsh, but the trees filtered the early morning sunshine sufficiently. F/14, 3 seconds.

Here's a view over the Sauk River near the campground. This was a risk, in terms of both the high-contrast lighting and how busy the composition is. You can see enough of the river and hills to make it interesting, though, and having the trees all aligned helps. F/14.

Next, another experiment, this one from near the campground just after sunrise. I'm not sure if the mountain is as vivid as it needs to be, although it'd be worth seeing this one in print to make that final decision. F/18.

Below are two more views of the South Fork Sauk River from the road. I took the first at F/16, 2.5 seconds; the second at F/18, 0.8 seconds.

Next, some of the aforementioned old growth along the road. Some clouds came along and filtered the sunlight at just the right moment; otherwise, the lighting would have been too harsh. F/16.

Old Sauk River Trail

One hike that we were able to complete was the Old Sauk River Trail. The water levels were so high that some of my usual favorite river access areas were submerged! There was still plenty of quality river scenery, though. Here's my favorite shot from the hike, with morning light illuminating a red alder tree and the Sauk River beyond. F/16, 1/5 of a second.

Next, the Sauk River viewed through ferns. I like the idea behind this one, but in practice, I don't know whether the greens of the ferns and the background trees are distinct enough from one another. F/18, 1/4 of a second.

Finally, a shot from the lush forest along the trail. I like the jungle vibe that the maple leaves are giving off here. F/16.

That's all for now, but I just finished going through the pictures from a more recent hike, so take heart - there will be another long post here before long!

Snoquera and Skookum

Last weekend, I did two hikes in one day: Snoquera Falls and Skookum Flats near Enumclaw. Between the falls, old trees everywhere, river views, and some interesting terrain, there's a lot to see in the area. Even so, I didn't walk away with many good pictures; the waterfall was more challenging to photograph than I thought it might be, the sunshine was bright later in the day, and I was trying to cover a lot of ground. First, the only image from the day that I'm really happy with, a view of Snoquera Falls framed by an old Douglas fir. The falls ended up a bit small in the frame, but I think there's enough going on in the composition to make it all come together. F/18, 2 seconds.

After the image above, I tried another shot of the falls from a more direct vantage point, framed by trees. The composition turned out well, but the breeze coming off the falls made too many of the branches blurry. Furthermore, the color and lighting contrast in the image as a whole weren't sufficient to be interesting. There is a way to scramble up closer to the falls, but it looked a bit too steep and slippery to do comfortably with my gear; a hiking group there ahead of us slid a bit.

I don't like writing a post with just two images, so here's a shot of the White River from the Skookum Flats trail, with an alder tree in the foreground.This picture isn't great in any way, but it's pleasant enough, and gives a good sense of some of the river views you get from the trail. F/18.

Thunder Knob and Thunder Creek

Last weekend, I hiked the Thunder Knob trail, near Diablo Lake, for the first time - the forecast called for sunny skies, and I wanted to take advantage of that weather to see some mountains! Since that's a fairly short hike, I wandered the old-growth forests of the Thunder Creek trail, just across the highway, in the afternoon. Unfortunately, I ended the day with few good pictures. The winds kicked up on Thunder Knob while I was there, which was part of the problem. Furthermore, the lighting was not ideal for photographing the iconic views over Diablo Lake - the sunlight was coming from directly behind me, rather than from the side or toward me. This kind of front-lighting is easy to expose for, and unlikely to produce a lens flare, but at midday on a sunny day it just isn't very interesting. Something to think about in the future, either on my next visit to Thunder Knob or my next sunny-day excursion.

My personal favorite image of the day came from the Thunder Creek trail: a closeup of the flowers on a black gooseberry shrub (Ribes lacustre, I've also seen it as "swamp currant," "prickly currant," etc.). Though numerous, the flowers are small and easy to miss. When I saw these flowers, I almost didn't stop for a picture, because I was afraid that this shaded area was too dark and I'd need to use a prohibitively long shutter speed. I'm glad I made the effort, though! F/5.

Next, a view of Colonial Peak from the Thunder Knob trail, framed by pine branches. This peak is visible throughout the hike, and one of the highlights of the experience. F/14.

Finally, another shaded scene from the Thunder Creek trail, with red elderberry flowers (Sambucus racemosa) in the foreground. F/6.3.

Mother's Day Waterfalls

On Mother's Day, my girlfriend and I took my mom to the Boulder River trail, a favorite spot of mine. It's especially nice in the spring, when the leaves are bright green and the waterfalls are full. I'm also a big fan of hiking in old-growth forests, and there are plenty of huge trees to gawk at here. My mom had said she wanted to see water on her Mother's Day hike, and the Boulder River trail certainly delivers!

I brought my camera along, of course, and took some pictures during our waterfall stops. First, what is perhaps the most unique and interesting image from the hike, featuring salmonberry flowers (Rubus spectabilis) and a waterfall a few miles in. Thankfully, the winds were light; any sort of a breeze would have ruined this shot. F/16, 0.5 seconds.

Next, a shot of the Boulder River and the iconic double waterfall earlier along the trail. I like how the blue-green color of the water comes through clearly here. F/16, 1.3 seconds.

Finally, two shots of the double waterfall through trees. They're similar to each other, and to the first shot from my trip here in the spring of 2018, but with enough differences to be worth considering. The first image below is more aesthetically balanced than the second or the 2018 one, and would look the best in a smaller form (like a greeting card or a postcard). The second isn't quite as harmonious, but it's interesting. Come to think of it, it's also a spring-summer variation on the second image in this post from January 2019.

It's always fun to revisit a favorite location and try to find new perspectives on it, or to improve on earlier photographs. Here's hoping that this spring and summer, I will see more favorite places!

First Camp of 2021

The first camping trip of 2021 is in the books! I spent two chilly but dry nights at Deception Pass State Park, and enjoyed some sunshine during the daytime. I love visiting at this time of spring, when the meadows are full of wildflowers. I also enjoyed exploring the West Beach area for the first time. The beach itself is scenic and spacious, and the interpretive trail through the sand dunes is an informative and unusual walk.

My favorite shot from the trip is this one of sea blush (Plectritis congesta) on Goose Rock. F/6.3.

Next, camas (Camassia quamash) blooming at the top of Goose Rock. I'd prefer the camas flowers were a bit bigger in the frame, but I think this still works. F/6.3.

Below, paintbrush (genus Castilleja), also near the top of Goose Rock. I'm guessing these are harsh paintbrush (Castilleja hispida). F/5.

The wildflowers definitely stole the show, but I did try my hand at some landscapes as well. First, a view of Cranberry Lake's wetlands from the West Beach sand dunes area. I liked the way the blue of the sky was so clearly reflected in the wetlands. F/16.

Lastly, a view toward North Beach from near the bridge, with a madrone tree in the foreground. I like the sense of space and distance in this one, but wish the color of the water had come through even more clearly. F/18.

I tried taking some pictures of the waves and rocks at West Beach, but wasn't happy with them. I think the issue was that the shutter speed I ended up using was a poor middle ground - not fast enough to sharply freeze the water's motion, but not long enough to create an interesting blur. Lesson (hopefully) learned for next time!