To continue from my last blog, I arrived home late and had to get ready for my trip to the Pacific Northwest. I didn’t really know anything about that area. We only had a few days there as we would meet up with my wife’s family in BC, Canada for a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner.

The next morning came early as our flight departed at 6:00 a.m. Long story short, we missed our flight but somehow, after a few hours wait they found us another one. We were very thankful!

We arrived later than planned at a remote cabin located in a heavily forested area completely unknown to me leaving no chance to find a spot for a sunset. It was raining anyways so nothing was lost. The next morning surprised me as the overcast sky had completely cleared but unfortunately, it was too late to catch a sunrise. Instead, I took my time searching for a spot. I  ended up going to Artist Point at midday where we were met with a crowd of tourists. Fortunately, I met a husband and wife photography team at Picture Lake who lived in Washington State. They were very kind and knowledgeable of the area. Funny, I just now found out that I followed them on Flickr and haven’t informed them yet as of this writing. It’s a small world.

Later that evening I decided to go up to Artist Point. After scouting out the area I realized I needed to hike higher up to get at least a somewhat original shot. The higher I got, the more the crowds dissipated but I was quickly running out of light. The sunset began before I could get set up so I scrambled as usual. Mt. Baker took on a beautiful gold streak in the clouds so I took a couple of quick shots to stitch later.  Mt. Shuksan, the star of the show, took on some beautiful saturated color as it was facing the right direction for a sunset. It only lasted for a moment so I only had time to shoot some quick handheld shots. By the time I set up and found some nice fall foreground the golden tones had mostly disappeared into the night leaving a nice reddish highlight on top of the peak.  Everywhere I looked were gorgeous, glaciated volcanic peaks,  an outdoor enthusiast dream…  I was so thankful to get this shot because moments later it was all over.

Landscape photography is definitely an action, adrenaline sport!

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Canon 6D, 24-70 f/4L, f/14, 1/20 sec, 200 ISO, 26mm, Dolica carbon tripod, Abobe lightroom 6

This fall season left me in a state of frustration as I kept choosing the wrong area to set up. No matter where I went the sunset/sunrise was always just around the next mountain or in one case just around the corner.

It had just snowed with everything covered in a pure white blanket with the fall colors at their peak. I set up on a particular mountain base that I’ve had a hard time getting a really good shot before. Well, this time was no different as the mountain just around the corner went crazy with light dancing all over it while my location lit up not so well leaving me in a state of near panic. I thought about making a run for it but knew I’d never make it there in time and decided to focus on the shot at hand. The snow quickly melted the next day leaving me with a nice shot but I knew how much better it could have been (the curse of a landscape photographer).

The next evening I was in a rush as I planned on leaving for a photo shoot to the Pacific Northwest the next day. I actually arrived early for once and had time to hike to my spot and preplan the composition. As sunset approached, the clouds thickened and it appeared I would get skunked once again. However, the sun was stubborn as it broke free and lit up a large section of the mountain. I started firing off shots just in case it ended premature as it so often does around here.

Then just as the sun seemed to be gone for good, the tops of the peaks took on a beautiful alpen glow so typical of this mountain range. I have seen this happen here even when it is completely clouded over. It’s as if the mountain itself has its own light source. This is where I got really serious snapping off shots as the last beams of light painted the colorful aspens and tops of the peaks. Finally! – I got a break and felt fortunate to capture a decent shot… I was hoping this meant my cold streak was over for now as I would need some good fortune when traveling to Washington State and BC, Canada in the next few days.

Above pictures taken in the Needle Mountains and Engineer Mountain located in the San Juan Mountain Range of Southwest Colorado.

Below are a few miscellaneous shots taken this fall in the alpine above 12k showing queens crown stems turned brilliant red and other wildflowers gone to seed.  One picture showing turned aspens taken near Silverton, CO.

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