Category Archives: Photographs: Cascades

Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Night

Dusk Clouds, Mount Shuksan

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Dusk Clouds, Mount Shuksan
Dusk Clouds, Mount Shuksan

Dusk Clouds, Mount Shuksan. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. August 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Evening fog clouds shroud the summit of Mt. Shuksan above Picture Lake – Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

Since we were in the neighborhood – we passed right past it on our way down from Artist Point – my brother suggested that we stop and photograph the iconic view of Mt. Shuksan from Picture Lake. Actually, as I understand it, the really iconic image is usually made about a month later when the slope along the far shore of the lake turns golden with fall foliage. I only knew the location from photographs, so I was surprised to find that it is a roadside lake with a boardwalk/trail to the typical shooting location! I understand that if I were to return in a month I would be shoulder to shoulder with scores of photographers – but on this evening we were initially the only ones there, though a couple others photographers eventually showed up.

When we arrived things did not look too promising in photographic terms. The peak of Shuksan was entirely socked in by clouds and fog, but my brother said that, in his experience, it was not uncommon for the fog to dissipate and rise as the day ends. (This was in line with my knowledge that the best light can often happen after the sun sets – and I’m always surprised at the number of photographers who pack up and leave before this happens.) As we watched, the saturated colors of the last moments of the day came on and, as if on cue, the clouds began to thin. This was perhaps the very last photograph I made. It was shot some time after the actual sunset and the conditions were quite dark. I thought that a very long post-sunset exposure might capture the diffused quality of the clouds as they moved across the face of the peak and that it might be possible to capture some of the very subtle post-sunset coloration. In the end this exposure was a bit longer than two minutes.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature

Roots and Rocks

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Roots and Rocks
Roots and Rocks

Roots and Rocks. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. August 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Weathered tree roots stretch across boulders at Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

I made this photograph at our first stop after we arrived at the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. (Technically, that isn’t quite true, since we had earlier stopped at the “ranger station” to ask some questions, but this was the first “real” stop for photography.) The road into this area twists and turns as it ascends toward and then past a ski area, and here we couldn’t help but pull over at a hairpin curve that provided a panoramic overlook to the valley below and the ridges to the east (?) of our position. Although the original reason for stopping was this dramatic view, I soon found nearby “intimate landscapes” to also be very interesting. While I often hike and climb long distances to find my photographs… for this one the tripod was on asphalt and the subject right next to the road.

On a technical note, for this photograph I used a lens that I’m increasingly fond of for photographing subjects like this one, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L USM (link to B&H). I find it useful to be able to put a bit of distance between myself and subjects in which the entire image may include only a few square feet, and the ability to fine tune the composition with the zoom is very useful. Although I didn’t do it in this photography, working with a slightly longer focal length also lets me have the option of isolating the subject against an out of focus background. I have the non-IS version of the lens – because that was the only version available back when I got mine – though I would almost certainly get the IS version if I were to replace it.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature

Sub-Alpine Ponds in Afternoon Light, Artist Point

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Sub-Alpine Ponds in Afternoon Light, Artist Point
Sub-Alpine Ponds in Afternoon Light, Artist Point

Sub-Alpine Ponds in Afternoon Light, Artist Point. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. August 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A trail weaves through meadow and among sub-alpine ponds at Artist Point with the ridge of Mt. Shuksan beyond – Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

This is another photograph from my late-August afternoon exploration of the stunning ridgeline of Artist Point in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest near the Mt. Baker ski area. This ridge runs through an intimate landscape comprised of small rock fields, meadows with running streams, groves and isolated high elevation trees, and small ponds – and provides a truly stunning panorama that takes in Mount Baker on one side and Mount Shuksan on the other, with distant peaks all around. We could hardly have asked for better conditions for late-afternoon photography. Dramatic clouds ringed the peaks, sometimes obscuring them and sometimes clearing for a moment, and bright sun alternated with softer and diffused light as cloud shadows moved across the ridge.

A bit further along the ridge there is a series of small snow-melt lakes – what I usually refer to as “tarns” in the Sierra. Here a trail winds in front of a couple of them that sit in rocky hollows in front a few ridgeline trees, with the cloud-shrouded shoulder of glacier-covered Mount Shuksan beyond.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Cascades, Photographs: Nature

Artist Point Meadow, Mount Shuksan

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Artist Point Meadow, Mount Shuksan
Artist Point Meadow, Mount Shuksan

Artist Point Meadow, Mount Shuksan. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. August 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The view of cloud-shrouded Mount Shuksan from a heather-filled sub-alpine meadow at Artist Point, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington.

As my brother and I came around the corner of this trail along the side of the Artist Point ridge, it took our breath away. I arrived a moment after he did, and found him already down among the heather flowers near the small run-off creek setting up his tilt-shift lens to make a close-up photograph of the flowers with the mountains in the distance. Once he finished, I went to work on this wider view of the scene, including the nearby foreground meadow and flowers, the trees along the edge of the drop-off, the pool of light in the valley beyond, and the shoulder of cloud-rimmed Mt. Shuksan with a dramatic sky beyond.

On a technical note, this was a very difficult exposure. When I looked down at the flowers and plants I saw what you see here, and when I looked up I saw the cloud-filled sky roughly as it appears in this photograph – but the dynamic range was so wide (ranging from parts of the foreground trees in deep shadow to distant snow fields in direct sun) that one exposure could not capture all of the scene data… so I used three which were then combined in post using masked layers and blended manually.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email