Category Archives: Photographs: Cascades

Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Back-Lit Trees, North Cascades

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Back-Lit Trees, North Cascades
A group of backlit trees above a deep valley, Artist Point

Back-Lit Trees, North Cascades. Near Mount Baker, Washington. September 20, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of backlit trees above a deep valley, Artist Point

In early September I spent a few days in the Seattle area — mostly on non-photographic business, but I managed to get out for a couple of days of photography. One was spent photographing street images in downtown Seattle, and I’ll share some of those photographs, too, before long. On the other day I managed to do the long drive up to the North Cascades near Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan, where I wandered a bit at the Artist Point location.

Conditions for my visit were varied, good for some subjects and more difficult for others. The main attractions here are probably the spectacular alpine vistas on either side — the point is located between the peaks of Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker, both of which are tall, rugged, glacier-covered mountains. However, the weather conditions were a bit less than idea for photographing those subjects, with light that was often a bit too obscured by the clouds. On the other hand, those same clouds muted the most intense light and created light that was sometimes good for more intimate subjects. As I wandered the easy trails at this location I spotted these hemlock trees standing against the backdrop of mountains and a deep valley leading off into the distance.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Trees, Alpine Terrain

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Trees, Alpine Terrain
A group of small trees stands on the edge of a deep valley, Cascade Mountains, Washington

Trees, Alpine Terrain. North Cascades, Washington. September 10, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A group of small trees stands on the edge of a deep valley, Cascade Mountains, Washington

This is another photograph from my brief visit to Washington’s North Cascades at Artist Point, high in the mountains at the end of the road between Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker. I had a free day, a rental car, and a forecast to relatively clear weather, so I went. The location is both popular and spectacular. The road ends at a very high point where snow still lay on the ground, and nearby are many trails, including the popular Artist Point trail that ascends a small rise nearby and offers excellent views in all directions.

There is a lot of intriguing stuff in this spot. Obviously the nearby alpine peaks with their extensive glaciers are impressive. Below there are two deep valleys leading away in opposite directions — one to the south towards a very large lake and the other to the north and leading to peaks on the Canadian border. The immediate terrain is alpine, with rocky areas (though less so that in the Sierra Nevada), small tarns, many plants, and small stands of beautiful trees that I believe are mountain hemlock. In this photograph one of those stands is positioned above the upper reaches of the valley that eventually leads south, and across this valley there are a few more trees, deeply eroded terrain, and some meadowy areas.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Mount Shuksan

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Mount Shuksan
Mount Shuksan towers over forested valleys near Artist Point, Washington

Mount Shuksan. North Cascades, Washington. September 10, 2017. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Mount Shuksan towers over forested valleys near Artist Point, Washington

I was recently in the Seattle, Washington area for a few days. My main reason for going was not photographic, but I managed to get in a couple of days of photography during the visit — a day of street photography in Seattle’s downtown area and a longer day up in the North Cascades near the Artist Point area around Mount Bake and Mount Shuksan. I picked this day largely because of the weather. The Pacific Northwest is not as reliably sunny as my California, so when I heard that the second-to-last day of my visit was likely to produce some sunshine I decided to take advantage of this potential.

In the end the weather was a bit trickier than I expected. There was sun, but it was often muted by clouds. This can be a good thing for many subjects, and light softened and filtered by high clouds can be lovely. But these mountains might have benefited from a bit more light — though the muted light produces a different quality that has its appeal, too. Most of my time here was spent slowly walking along the paths of the Artist Point area, which is found at the high point and end of the road at a location between Mounts Baker and Shuksan. I believe Baker is the higher peak, but Shuksan is the wilder looking mountain, with ramparts of dark rock broken up by snow fields and glaciers. When I made this photograph the soft light was illuminating the forest and valley in the foreground, and even more muted light fell across the peak. The photograph also illustrates a feature of the Cascades that gets the attention of this Sierra Nevada homey, namely the abrupt transition from forest to the alpine zone of rocks and snow and glaciers.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Pacific Northwest

Trees, Volcanic Terrain

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Trees, Volcanic Terrain
Tree line groves in the volcanic alpine landscape of the North Cascades

Trees, Volcanic Terrain. September 10, 2017. Artist Point, Washington. © Copyright 2017 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Tree line groves in the volcanic alpine landscape of the North Cascades

I’ll continue to alternate between photographs from several recent photographic projects — the late-August Sierra backcountry photography, a recent trip to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and perhaps a few other things. Today’s photograph comes from the Seattle visit, from which I returned just a few days ago. I spent most of the visit in the Seattle, specifically Ballard, where I did some street photography. However, I did get one day to drive out a bit and do some landscape photography. After considering the “big three” options (Rainier, Olympics, and Cascades) I decided to head north, almost to the Canadian border, and the Mount Baker area.

I went to the understandably popular Artist Point area, just beyond the Mount Baker ski area, where there are a number of trails heading out in various directions to visit this spectacular country sitting between the summits of Mount Shuksan and Mount Baker. While my experience with this county is limited — it is a long ways from home! — I love the character of these mountains. They feature dark and rugged volcanic peaks, large glaciers, forests fed by the significant precipitation in this part of the world, and a rather abrupt transition between the world of the forests and that of the glaciers. Artist Point sits very close to this boundary — there are beautiful trees, but much of the country is open and rocky, and not far above are those glaciers.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email

All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.