Forests, Woodlands, and Trees
Larch and Cairn, mark the way along Inspiration Lake in the Enchantments of Washington State. I was so drawn to this view that I had my tripod on the verge of sliding into the lake so I could get a sharp image of the granite and tree but drag the shutter to soften the water. Image #108.385
Tree in Snow, Paradise on Mt Rainier certainly lives up to its name anytime of year. Most people think of summer for the wildflowers. Those are fantastic, and I do those hikes most years, but winter for me might be the best time to visit the mountain. I love contrast and textures, so this scene checks all the boxes for me. Image #109.082
New Life, this scene tells a very violent story. May 18, 1980, this spot was hit by the tidal wave of Spirit Lake being pushed up the valley by the erupting volcano Mt St Helens. Then it was blasted by 350 mph wind that was super-heated to about 400° F. The area was sterilized. They have not intervened in this area so this is all natural second growth after 41 years. It was impressive to see the amount of life thriving here now. Image #110.019
Morning Light, hits a narrow ridge in the Mount Margaret Backcountry. I was heading back to camp after photographing sunrise and I had to stop and capture this wonderful contrast of early morning sunlight against a deep shadow background. Image #110.033
Sunlight Through the Storm, on our first night on the trail along the Hoh River we encountered the only rain we would get. But that transition from nice weather to stormy is almost always photographic gold. Image #110.386
False Hellebore, has been a favorite photographic subject of mine forever and I’ve photographed it a thousand times, but never gotten a really good image. I had to act quickly for this one as the light moved through the scene extremely fast. This is a focus stack of 3 images to maintain sharp focus throughout. Image #110.051
Stillness, this was on a casual stroll up Mailbox Peak Old Trail in Washington State (if you know the hike you caught that joke). There was a beautiful fog lingering creating a wonderful atmosphere. The problem I encountered when I tried to capture this scene was that I left my tripod at home, and it was dark. So, I ran the ISO up to 1000 and relied on Nikon’s vibration reduction system to help keep this sharp at 160mm and 1/40 sec.!! Image #109.290