Steve Cole Photography

Pacific Northwest Landscape / Nature Photography

Wildflowers

Top 10 of 2009

Dec 16

On one of the photography forums that I frequent, someone posted their “top ten” images for 2009. I thought that was a great idea so, in honor of the first full year of my blog, I went through my images and selected my top ten. It was very hard since I had such a tremendous year of growth thanks in part to this blog. So- in no particular order, here are my top ten images for 2009….

1. Autumnal Sunset – Mount Rainier National Park

Taken from the Tolmie Peak lookout, the warm light of sunset really stands out making this a “classic” Mount Rainier photo for me.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

2. Horseshoe Bend – North Fork Nooksack River Valley

This panorama was the payoff of exploration. I’ve been interested in finding someplace where I could create a panorama centered on a horseshoe bend of the river in a snowy scene. My first attempt wasn’t quite to my liking but I happened to stumble across this location which turned out to be very accessible.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

3. Park Glacier Icefall

This shot was just a quick one while I waited for some cloud cover to lift from the summit of Mount Baker. Over time, this photo has really grown on me and I think a great example of how telephoto zooms are beneficial in landscape photography.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

4. Deception Creek Panorama

Beautiful is a word that comes to mind for me with this photo. This photo was taken at my first stop on this particular outing. It wasn’t until I got home and pieced the panorama together when this scene’s impact really became apparent. When I now look at this photo, I’m really drawn into the movement of the creek as well as its expanse across the entire image.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

5. Trees in Threes – Mount Rainier National Park

Taken on a wet morning on Mazama Ridge, this is another example of a photo that really struck a chord after processing it back home. For me, the photo has a lot going for it- a variety of wildflowers in the foreground and a repeating sequence of trees which eventually fade into the mist and fog of the background. I’m very proud of this image.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

6. Inside Out – Mount Rainier National Park

I had been on a mission to find a better representation of this perspective. My previous attempts, while successful, looked out at a largely uninteresting forest. I happened to spy this log downhill off trail and knew that this was the one. I thought the jagged appearance of the opening added interest while the stump located just upslope ties the foreground to the background. This photo was physically a challenge to take since it did require crawing into the hollowed out portion of the log to gain this perspective. Now add in steady rain and things got even more difficult.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

7. Winter’s Frost

I took this photo along side a creek in a cold pocket. The shaded area facilitated the development of this frost but the steep sideslope made taking the photo a bit challenging. I just love the pattern of frost and fir needles.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

8. Wrapped in Fall

This is another shot composed with the aid of a telephoto zoom. I shot a series of photos trying different compositions and really loved the contrast between the vibrant oranges and the darker, muted tones of the trunk of the tree.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

9. Cougar Divide

I remember this outing very much, primarilly due to my disappointment in this day’s sunset (or lack of one). The oranges and reds of sunset never made their way towards Mount Baker on this afternoon since a storm system seemed to move in quicker than forecasted. Still, I shot what was presented and this image really struck me and a beautiful combination of foreground, sky, and mountain.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

10. No Better Time – Mount Rainier National Park

Taken during my first visit to Mazama Ridge, this small pocket of widlflowers in prime bloom seems to have a nice flow across the image, anchored by the False Hellebore on the left side of the frame. A very pleasing image for me.

More photos from this trip can be found in my blog post here.

Thank you for visiting throughout this past year and I look forward to more posts and photos during the upcoming year! Seasons Greetings!

Mazama Ridge

Aug 11

Based on my visit last week, I knew that I had to return to Mazama Ridge this week for peak wildflowers. Thankfully, it did not disappoint. The weather was a challenge since it was windblown steady light rain / mist for much of the day. Very late in the day, the weather seemed to finally start breaking up but the mountain itself never revealed itself. I can’t emphasize enough how amazing it is to see the wildflower peak in person. Now to the day’s photos…

Mount Rainier Wildflowers – 3

Aug 02

[Part 3 of 3]

Due to my extended stay at Chinook Pass, I was running a bit behind schedule so I raced to Reflection Lakes as soon as possible. This was to be my first trip up Mazama Ridge and based on some research of the topo maps, I had an idea of where I wanted to be for sunset. As I quickly learned, topo maps only tell part of the story and so I had to venture further and higher up the ridge than I had originally anticipated.

Sunset this particular evening was nothing special and a report estimating peak wildflower blooms in another week also seemed true. Still, several locations had magnificant displays of wildflowers..

Around the official time for sunset, I finally reached higher and more open ground. I scrambled to find a nice foreground and found this stretch of lupine in bloom. It was getting dark and I had to use longer exposures along with a graduated neutral-density filter to balance exposures for the sky and foreground. Bugs were still quite active making for a hasty session. While these photos looked good during a very quick review in the field, they didn’t not live up to their potential once I was back home. Still an amazing place to experience..

Mount Rainier Wildflowers – 2

Aug 02

[Part 2 of 3]

After finishing up at Tipsoo Lake, I took the log bridge over Highway 410 and started out on the Naches Loop Trail on the backside of Naches Peak. Wildflower conditions along the trail (which is also part of the Pacific Crest Trail) were also in prime conditions. Due to time constraints related to my last stop of the day, I only traveled about a mile to a wonderful small, unnamed lake alongside the trail..

Once I finished up, I quickly raced over to my last stop of the day: Mazama Ridge for sunset.

Mount Rainier Wildflowers – 1

Aug 02

[Part 1 of 3]

Friday I headed down to check out the wildflower displays at Mount Rainier. This actually marked the first time that I’ve witnessed peak blooms at Mount Rainier. All the photos you’ve seen in picture books just doesn’t compare to the real thing. I decided to break up the day’s photos into three separate blog posts based on where I visited. This first post covers the time I spent around Tipsoo Lake at Chinook Pass.

I didn’t arrive until mid-day so the lighting was rather harsh and so was the thick haze that’s developed during this very dry stretch. A report from another photographer I read two days ago said that Tipsoo Lake was in prime conditions for wildflowers and he was spot on. Simply amazing to see in person..

Once I finished up at the Lake, I decided to explore the Naches Loop Trail (details in my next blog post)…

Dog Mountain Wildflowers

May 31

My first trip to Dog Mountain was back in 2001 and just happened to coincide with the peak bloom of Arrowleaf Balsamroot. Back then, I casually snapped a photo using a 2 megapixel camera of some of the blooms not really thinking much about it. Over the last couple years, I decided I wanted to return in order to take some new photos with my 10 megapixel camera. Things didn’t come together last year for a visit but everything fell into place this year with sunny skies and peak blooms during my visit.

Dog Mountain is located in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area about 50 miles east of the Portland / Vancouver area on the Washington side of the Gorge. The trailhead is located along the banks of the Columbia River at 100′ and climbs 2500′ to the wildflower meadows and another 500′ to the summit. All of this happens over just a couple miles so the trail quickly and steadily gains elevation. The majority of this is shaded which helps since the temperatures can get warm.

On my way to the trailhead, I stopped off at Multnomah Falls. I won’t begin to replicate what hundreds of photographers have done here but I did notice that the moon was rising over the top of the falls:

A couple hours later, I was at my destination: the meadows of Dog Mountain. As was predicted earlier in the week, the Balsamroot was indeed in prime bloom. Although these photos focus on the flowers, the views of the Gorge and Mount Hood are tremendous!..

Wenatchee Area Balsamroot

May 14

I’ve spent the last two days over on the east side of the Cascades in Wenatchee. I set out looking for wildflowers and found some nice displays of balsamroot in the Olalla Canyon area near the town of Cashmere..

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