Ridge

Redemption

Sunrise over Mount Baring and Jumpoff Ridge
Photos you see aren’t just left to chance. Sure, sometimes there is some semblance of “luck” involved but typically there are the result of research, effort, and persistence. A quick half hour drive from where I live is a nice, lofty perch that’s easily accessible and works for sunsets and sunrises. I’ve tried numerous times to photograph sunrise from here and they’ve all resulted in lackluster results. My last attempt, New Years Day 2014, actually ended with me breaking one of my zoom lenses. So, on a Sunday morning, I tried again.

The forecast for Sunday was partly sunny, with a storm system approaching for the evening. These transitional days increase your chances of at least some interest during a sunrise or sunset. I know this, but that doesn’t make it any easier to get up once the alarm goes off! Eventually I was headed east through the darkness. As I approached the town of Sultan, I could see a dull red glow on the horizon. It looked like this was going to be an intensely colored sunrise. Deep down I wondered it I would make it to my spot in enough time. I still had another 5 minutes of driving to do and that color on the horizon was only getting brighter.
Sunrise builds over Baring Mountain
Sunrise builds over Baring Mountain
Sunrise builds over Baring Mountain
After what seemed an eternity, I turned off onto the Forest Service road for the final hill climb to my spot. Well, as you will see, I did make it and with time to spare. Shooting into the light poses some challenges with exposure. If you want to preserve the brightest parts of the scene, your shadows will suffer and be pretty dark. You certainly can bracket but that comes the challenge of blending multiple exposures together. On this morning, I decided that the intense skies were more important than shadow detail so I intentionally underexposed much of my work. I shoot do RAW, and that allows me the ability to double process my photos (blend two versions of the same exposure together) and regain just a touch of detail in the shadows.

It finally felt good to be on the right side of luck (hence the title of this blog post).
Sunrise builds over Baring Mountain
Baring Mountain detail and sunrise
Sunrise over Baring Mountain and Merchant Peak
Sunrise over Baring Mountain and Merchant Peak
Sunrise over Baring Mountain and Merchant Peak
Sunrise over Baring Mountain and Jumpoff Ridge
Sunrise Cloud Detail
Here is a time lapse of this sunrise…

Mount Baring Sunrise Explosion – 10/19/2014 from Steve Cole on Vimeo.

Lunar Light

Last week, forecast sites on the internet were projecting some active auroras, even for northern Washington State. A promising forecast and clear skies only convinced me more to head out so I went to someplace REALLY good. I’ve known about this area up the Baker Lake drainage for over a year and I’ve been waiting for conditions and opportunity to come together. The night before my visit, I discovered another spot to set up using Google Earth which was not far away from my original ID’d location. As it turned out, the location turned out to be a great spot. All I needed to do was wait for darkness and for the auroras to show up.

The sun set but a transitioning 3/4 moon kept the landscape somewhat illuminated. This was great for my general night landscape photos since I do like to have some amount of detail in my foregrounds at night. I kept watch in my folding chair, swatting away mosquitoes (which were a bit aggressive while it was still light) throughout the night. The moon stayed up until 1:30am. Again, this was great for my general shots of Mount Baker or Mount Shuksan but for the auroras I was hoping to see. After the moon had set, the Milky Way and even more stars came out- but not the auroras. It was now about 2am and if the auroras were to appear, it would have happened by this point. I rattled a couple more frames off before I decided to call it a night and head home. I was pretty crushed that they did not appear but, on the other hand, I found an even better location to photograph them. I guess next time I’ll be REALLY ready!..
Mount Shuksan and the Sulphide Glacier as night falls. North Cascades National Park
Mount Baker and Ursa Major
Mount Baker and Ursa Major
Mount Shuksan and the Sulphide Glacier under stars. North Cascades National Park
Mount Baker and Ursa Major
Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan night sky panorama

April Leftovers

I built up a little backlog during the month of April so here’s a quick hit series of photos.
Big Four Mountain
Big Four Mountain detail
Sunny spring day and Big Four Mountain
Skykomish River Valley near Sultan
title
Cumulus clouds over the summit of Mount Pilchuck
Mount Stickney and Wallace Falls
Mount Pilchuck summit detail
High above the Skykomish River valley near Sultan
Mount Stickney and Wallace Falls
Sunset from Monroe
Storm clouds over Mount Pilchuck from Fairfield County Park in Monroe, Washington
Sunset clouds over Lord Hill from Fairfield County Park in Monroe, Washington
Sunset clouds over Lord Hill from Fairfield County Park in Monroe, Washington
Full moon rising above Haystack Mountain
West Face of Vesper Peak (L), Glacier Peak (C), and Morning Star Peak (R) from Monroe, Washington
Mount Baker Ski Area Vicinity
Spring melt along Razor Hone Creek
Moss on Maples, North Fork Nooksack River valley
Moss on Maples, North Fork Nooksack River valley
I also made this timelapse from my lofty perch above the Skykomish River valley:

Good Friday

I shot sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett on Good Friday and a good Friday it turned out to be! I had been thinking about it for a few days but the cloud cover had been a little too thick towards the east. This day, however, had a good balance and really put on a show:
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
Sunrise over the Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington on Good Friday 2013
I also set up my trusty GoPro to record a time lapse while I was shooting. That also turned out pretty neat!

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