The Northern Cascades - Some Photos
Oct. 17th, 2010 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elrhiarhodanI'm actually kind of surprised how well my photos came out. I'm getting better with exposure and metering and my brain isn't slowing to a stuttering halt with all the math involved.
I only took about 300 photos. Out of those, I'd say that 75 were immediately discarded. Of the remaining, I'm seriously pleased with about 150. Not bad for me. I've done a little work on them in Adobe Lightroom - white balance and exposure correction. But that's the boring stuff.
Let's start with my host's garden.
As you may recall, Shelob's made her home outside of my office window. My hosts have their own, west coast editions. There were at least a half-dozen largish spiders making their homes in the shrubbery.
It was raining the first two days of my visit, which is typical Seattle weather. But it does wonders for the remaining beauties in the garden:
On Tuesday morning, I left for the Cascades. Once you cross over Washington Pass, the land becomes very dry. Even in high summer, there isn't a lot of green. This was the view from the patio off of my hotel room:
Thursday was the only day where I wasn't tied to my computer for the morning, which meant I could take advantage of some wonderful light. I drove through the Okonagan Forest. This is an interesting place - the road is paved, up to a point, and there are quite a few camp grounds. Due to the surprisingly warm weather (after what was a very cold and damp summer), most of the camp grounds were filled. I did manage to find one with creek access that was unoccupied. And I finally mastered the trick of slowing down running water.
About ten miles up the road, the pavement ended at Andrews Creek. I did continue up the forest service road for a while, but worried a bit about the underside of my rental car. This is the last bridge on the paved road.
I was heading back to the lodge when I noticed a road with a sign for a trail head 12 miles ahead - which hopefully meant another 12 miles of paved road to explore. This was an exciting drive - one line, no guard rails, hairpin turns and no cell service (natch - I'm in the middle of the national forest). Unfortunately, there were no elevation signs, but I wouldn't be surprised to find I was 4500 feet above sea level. By the time I came to the end of the paved road, I was clear of the treeline.
This picture hopefully tells a story - a journey beginning or a journey ending.
Other than the omnipresent HUGE deer, this is the only wildlife I saw:
I was rather tired by the time I left the Okonagan Forest, but I thought a stop at Lake Pearrygin could be worth the time. This is actually one of the best pictures I took during the entire trip:
Friday, when I needed to head back to Seattle, I had hoped to get an early start - but work called, and I didn't leave the lodge until nearly 11 am. Photography is best during the "golden hours" - right after dawn or just before sunset. Noon is probably the worst time of day to shoot - the shadows are too harsh, the light too hard. But beggars can't be choosy. One of my favorite "beauty" spots is the westbound approach to Washington Pass - and Liberty Bell and Early Winter Spires:
Once across Washington and then Rainy Pass, you've got the really dramatic and frosty peaks of the Prophet and then the Baker Ranges.
I've yet to work through the remaining photos - but if anything is interesting, I'll post those too.
And as much as I love traveling, I love to come home too.
I only took about 300 photos. Out of those, I'd say that 75 were immediately discarded. Of the remaining, I'm seriously pleased with about 150. Not bad for me. I've done a little work on them in Adobe Lightroom - white balance and exposure correction. But that's the boring stuff.
Let's start with my host's garden.
As you may recall, Shelob's made her home outside of my office window. My hosts have their own, west coast editions. There were at least a half-dozen largish spiders making their homes in the shrubbery.
It was raining the first two days of my visit, which is typical Seattle weather. But it does wonders for the remaining beauties in the garden:
On Tuesday morning, I left for the Cascades. Once you cross over Washington Pass, the land becomes very dry. Even in high summer, there isn't a lot of green. This was the view from the patio off of my hotel room:
Thursday was the only day where I wasn't tied to my computer for the morning, which meant I could take advantage of some wonderful light. I drove through the Okonagan Forest. This is an interesting place - the road is paved, up to a point, and there are quite a few camp grounds. Due to the surprisingly warm weather (after what was a very cold and damp summer), most of the camp grounds were filled. I did manage to find one with creek access that was unoccupied. And I finally mastered the trick of slowing down running water.
About ten miles up the road, the pavement ended at Andrews Creek. I did continue up the forest service road for a while, but worried a bit about the underside of my rental car. This is the last bridge on the paved road.
I was heading back to the lodge when I noticed a road with a sign for a trail head 12 miles ahead - which hopefully meant another 12 miles of paved road to explore. This was an exciting drive - one line, no guard rails, hairpin turns and no cell service (natch - I'm in the middle of the national forest). Unfortunately, there were no elevation signs, but I wouldn't be surprised to find I was 4500 feet above sea level. By the time I came to the end of the paved road, I was clear of the treeline.
This picture hopefully tells a story - a journey beginning or a journey ending.
Other than the omnipresent HUGE deer, this is the only wildlife I saw:
I was rather tired by the time I left the Okonagan Forest, but I thought a stop at Lake Pearrygin could be worth the time. This is actually one of the best pictures I took during the entire trip:
Friday, when I needed to head back to Seattle, I had hoped to get an early start - but work called, and I didn't leave the lodge until nearly 11 am. Photography is best during the "golden hours" - right after dawn or just before sunset. Noon is probably the worst time of day to shoot - the shadows are too harsh, the light too hard. But beggars can't be choosy. One of my favorite "beauty" spots is the westbound approach to Washington Pass - and Liberty Bell and Early Winter Spires:
Once across Washington and then Rainy Pass, you've got the really dramatic and frosty peaks of the Prophet and then the Baker Ranges.
I've yet to work through the remaining photos - but if anything is interesting, I'll post those too.
And as much as I love traveling, I love to come home too.
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 03:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 03:55 pm (UTC)The trick is a very slow shutter speed and a tripod. The tripod - or camera stabilization device - is essential, otherwise, you don't get slow water - you get blurry water!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 07:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 03:56 pm (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 03:38 pm (UTC)"Beautiful! Gorgeous! Wish you were here!"
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 04:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 04:20 pm (UTC)Thank you!
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 05:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 07:22 pm (UTC)I do love the Pacific Northwest. I hope to live there some day. When I grow up.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 07:20 pm (UTC)I'm just going to sit here in awe--my only photographic skill is to point and click with my cell phone.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 07:25 pm (UTC)I must admit to being particularly proud of that picture. It was a grim and rainy day (in the way that's so typical Seattle), and I was using my new 85mm lens. There was so much going on behind the spider (flowers, leaves), that I had to switch to manual focus. I didn't realize, until I got home and looked at the pictures on the monitor, that the web came out, fully focused, and the background was perfectly creamy bokeah. From a technical and composition standpoint, it's one of the best I've ever taken.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 10:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-18 10:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 12:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-19 01:43 am (UTC)Coming home is like the rest of the hot fudge in the sundae. To find that no matter how far you travel, you have a place where you utterly belong.
And besides, while I hate my mattress, I love my pillows and my linens.
no subject
Date: 2010-10-20 06:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-22 07:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 05:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-11-20 11:20 pm (UTC)