My laptop is finally repaired so it’s time to look back at 2010 and pick out my ten favorite photos from the year. Ok, well, make that ten PLUS 2 because it’s always hard to limit it to just ten! I don’t know how many photos I’ve taken during the last 12 months but about 450 photos have found their way here onto my blog. From that, I chose about 100 photos to add to the galleries of my website. To me, that means it was a pretty good year!
Looking at the photos I’ve selected for this year in review, water seemed to be a popular subject of mine. The weather this summer wasn’t very good (as evidenced by the wildflower season at Mount Rainier National Park) so a number of my trips were confined to the streams and waterfalls in the forests. And so……the top ten in no particular order:
1.) “Nooksack Falls in Summer- North Fork Nooksack River Valley”
A definite favorite since I finally achieved a shot I had previously visualized. I had been looking for a different view of the falls and a higher, downward perspective seemed to fit the bill. The problem is that there isn’t a natural high viewpoint so I used a 6′ ladder to get this perspective.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
2.) “Wells Creek Falls – Wells Creek Valley”
I was very happy to get this shot given the conditions at the time. The falls are only a ¼ mile upstream of the road but it does require at least one ford of the creek to reach this unencumbered view of the falls. The combination of a steady rain and downspray from the falls added to the challenge of getting this shot.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
3.) “Winter’s Glow – Mount Shuksan”
After an afternoon on the slopes at the Mount Baker Ski Area, I snowshoed up to Artist Point in hopes of a nice sunset. Although I didn’t get a nice sunset for Mount Baker, I did get some great alpenglow off of Mount Shuksan. Definitely reminds me of the many photos of the rugged Alaskan mountains.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
4.) “Standouts – Mount Baker Ski Area”
Taken on another day up at the ski area, I remember looking across at Hemispheres and seeing this small grove of trees and how the sun was casting shadows off of the surrounding slopes. I used my zoom lens at 300mm to isolate the trees in the lower right corner and eliminate some other trees in the vicinity.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
5.) “Paradise River – Mount Rainier National Park”
Perhaps a stereotypical shot from the Paradise area of Mount Rainier National Park but I was happy to finally get a nice photo with Pink Monkeyflower blooms. This was taken towards the end of my visit to Mazama Ridge this summer during the peak of wildflower season. I like how I was able to include the stream and the cascades in the background into this composition.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
6.) “Right Place, Right Time – Mount Rainier National Park”
By far, my most memorable outing of the year. A friend joined me on a hike into Spray Park in the NW corner of Mount Rainier National Park. The entire day had active weather and upon our arrival in Spray Park, the clouds thickened and socked us in. I had just accepted the fact that there would be no sunset when I noticed a faint patch of blue sky above us. In no more than 5 minutes, conditions changed from whiteout to clear skies at the height of sunset’s colors. Having this amazing scene all to ourselves was the icing on the cake.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
7.) “Towards the Light – Zigzag River Valley”
Taken during my May visit to the Columbia River Gorge area, I stopped at the bridge over the Zigzag River along Highway 26 on the way to Mount Hood. It was a beautiful stretch of river and the late afternoon sun was shinning through the forest. I noticed one beam of light that was beginning to shine on one boulder out in the river. This is just another example of using a telephoto zoom to isolate a portion of the landscape. This photo reminds me of something drifting helplessly in a stormy sea.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
8.) “Through the Forest – North Fork Nooksack River Valley”
I spent several weekends exploring new parts of the North Fork Nooksack River valley. This photo of Bagley Creek probably wouldn’t have happened if not for the inability to reach my primary objective this particular day. After being denied upstream travel, I decided to walk downstream and eventually came across this view. The color contrast between the rock and the green of the forest stand out for me as well as the detail in the rock formations.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
9.) “Summertime on Bagley Creek – North Fork Nooksack River Valley”
Believe it or not, this scene is only about 1/4 mile downstream of photo #8. This was shot the week before photo #8 when I first tried to access a particular location. It’s a very peaceful scene to me and I love how the creek just seems to go on to infinity.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
10.) “Day’s End – Mount Baker Wilderness”
This shot was taken from a favorite location of mine- Cougar Divide on the north side of Mount Baker. I was hopeful for a nice fall sunset this day due to active clouds throughout the day. We reached my favorite spot on the ridge right about the transition from afternoon light to the golden hour. The clouds provided some dramatic interest and the late afternoon sun accentuated the textures of the snow. I was really happy with the processing and how this photo turned out.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
Ok, here are two bonus photos!
11.) “Storm Clouds – Mount Baker Wilderness”
This photo was taken during the same session as photo #10. It can be easy to focus your attention in one direction but you should always look around! This photo wouldn’t exist without that thinking. As I looked around, I took note of the wall of clouds and how they were being reflected in the small tarn below me.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
12.) “Road No More – North Fork Skykomish River Valley”
Floods back in 2006 damaged a half-mile stretch of the Index-Galena Road in Central Cascades. Today,a new side channel of the North Fork Skykomish River flows along the old road’s alignment but portions of the road still lie within the new channel. I was intrigued by this small piece of asphalt lying in the moving water. Once again, I used my telephoto to isolate the piece of asphalt.
More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.
Auroras are trademarks of the high latitudes such as Alaska, Norway, and Canada. It is much rarer to see them at the lower latitudes of places like Seattle. After a tremendous solar burst last week, that’s exactly what was forecasted for the weekend. Sometime in the early 2000s, I saw some aurora activity from the front yard of my house in Everett and it was mesmerizing. I desperately wanted to capture the auroras above some of our fine northwest scenery.
As the afternoon went on, the storm activity seemed to tail off and so we gave it a go. Surprisingly, the Forest Service roads were bone dry; the thunderstorms never dropped their payload in this area. Despite some concerns about having to hike on snow to our destination, everything ended up being snow free. Even better, the site I had researched turned out to be great. Mount Baker remained cloaked behind thick clouds but Mount Shuksan had a horizontal slit across its mid flanks. I think the struggling optimists inside of us hoped that the pockets of blue sky were the beginnings of a clear night sky.
Clear skies were directly overhead but clouds filled the northern skies. no auroras were visible to the naked eye. Or were they?…..While taking some night shots, my peripheral vision seemed to catch a shimmer in the sky. Clouds were still thick so I wasn’t sure what I saw. On one of my shots, there was a small green orb. The auroras! Sadly, that would be all that we would see. It was now pushing 2am; we now accepted the bitterness of defeat and drove home. Hopefully soon, the skies will cooperate and we will capture the auroras. One of these days…
