I’m pleased to announce that this week I received the news that my photo “Horseshoe Bend” (Above) has been accepted into the 2010 Collective Visions Gallery (CVG) Juried Art Show. Located in Bremerton, Washington, the show runs during the month of February. It opens on the 2nd and runs through the 27th. If you’re in the area, be sure and drop by to check it out!…
I returned to the North Fork Nooksack River to explore one of the many locations I’ve identified for potential photo opportunities. I actually took some photos in the forest located in this area last winter but did not have the chance to explore this section of river. As I’m discovering, one’s exploration of the river is limited without the use of waders or even rubber boots!
Here are a couple of shots of Galena Creek, up near the Mount Baker Ski Area:
Now onto the river. This stretch of river is located near milepost 43…
Now back in more familiar territory, I headed out to explore a certain stretch of the North Fork Nooksack River that I attempted previously. Before that, however, I decided to swing by a part of the river which was recommended as a bald eagle viewing area by users of a hiking forum. The location is the Mosquito Lake Road bridge over the North Fork Nooksack River bridge:
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On this rainy morning, I counted about 8 eagles including 2 juveniles. Almost all of the eagles were perched high up in the adjacent trees so my 300mm lens comes up just a bit shy. Some of these photos are cropped versions of the originals so that the eagle fills the frame a bit more.
It was now time to move on so I drove up the Mount Baker Highway to the turnoff for the Wells Creek Road and Nooksack Falls. This winter I became intrigued with a stretch of the Nooksack upstream of the famous falls where the river flows through a deep gorge. Accessing this stretch of river is not without hazard because the only entry points are at either end of the gorge or down the steep side slope. During a previous attempt, I worked my way through the forest to the downstream end of the gorge but eventually cliffed out.
On this outing, I followed a small drainage gully down to the river’s edge and then followed it upstream. Despite being at the water’s edge, I met a similar fate. Entrance to the gorge was prevented by a cliff wall and swift currents of the river. If I am to enter this gorge, it will have to be from the sideslope or the upstream edge of the gorge. During my stay, the snow began to fall really hard. Given the longer exposure times I was using, this added some banding artifacts to my photos..
Thanksgiving meal bloat left me feeling a tad lazy so I just managed to explore another minor forest service road in the upper North Fork Nooksack River valley. I picked this location because of a couple of streams which bisected the road but those didn’t quite pan out. Instead, I was drawn to a huge wetland complex that feeds the Nooksack..
I wanted to explore a new portion of the North Fork Nooksack River this weekend but the lack of a lower elevation snowpack made things too dangerous to continue. While in the general area, I decided to explore a different section of an unnamed creek that I’ve looked at before…
I’m very excited to announce that two of my photos have been accepted for display at the 2009 Edmonds Art Festival juried exhibition. Located in downtown Edmonds, Washington, this year’s festival will be held June 19-21st (Fathers Day Weekend). Both photos will be available for purchase.
Photo #1 is entitled “Moonlit Fog” and was taken in Mount Rainier National Park last September. It captures a late night view of a fog covered White River Valley and a rising moon taken from Sunrise Point:
Photo #2 is entitled “Horseshoe Bend” and was taken in March of this year. This panorama provides a unique perspective of the North Fork Nooksack River encased in a fresh coat of snow. The river flow comes towards the viewer and travels from left to right:
If you happen to be in the area, be sure to visit. The exhibition and the art for sale make for a great afternoon..
You’d be hard pressed to convince many Washingtonians that this weekend’s storm was probably the last “lowland” snow event of the winter. I was excited because it was one last opportunity this winter to photograph Nooksack Falls with a fresh coat of snow.
I also wanted to experiment with another piece of equipment- a 6′ aluminum ladder. Funny as it may seem, I’ve thought about possibly getting different angles or compositions with the assistance of the ladder. So- I carried the ladder the half mile or so from the Mt Baker Hwy to the falls.
While the fresh snow seemed promising, the actual amount at the falls wasn’t. I had hoped for 2-3″ or so to really provide a nice coat for the trees and rocks but the overnight snowfall amount was more like 1″. I had been at the falls for about 15 minutes or so when it started snowing. Hard. *VERY* difficult conditions to take photos when the snow is blowing into and on your lenses. I’m very thankful that Pentax includes weather seals with their DSLR cameras (for a fraction of the Canikon prices)!
Lastly, I checked another part of the river I’ve been meaning to that also had a horseshoe bend:
In my last post, I shared some photos from the Horseshoe Bend Trail along the North Fork Nooksack River. Due to the late hour, I wasn’t able to take any photos of the horseshoe bend of the river. I was curious as to how far along the trail I had traveled and where the horseshoe bend was so I fired up Google Earth to investigate. As it turns out, I had been close to the bend but frankly it doesn’t appear to be photo friendly (and definately not what I had envisioned in my head).
As I looked over the area in Google Earth, I did notice a bend in the river that appeared to more closely match what I had hoped to see in person. This located wasn’t apparent to me while on the trail because it occurs on the south bank and away from the trail which is on the north bank of the river. Using the tools in Google Earth, I was able to determine a route and distance (~0.6 miles):
Seems easy, right? Well, almost. Google Earth also incorporates a terrain model so it gives you some idea of the ups & downs but the resolution may not enough for an area such as this. Furthermore, Google Earth can’t tell you anything about the obstacles you’ll experience in the area such as snow depths or downed timber. It may have only been 0.6 miles and 100-200 feet of up & down but in unconsolidated snow, it’s quite a workout to finally obtain these shots:
Along the way, there was this curious site (created by higher flood flows): a teeter-totter!
Getting back to Google Earth, there are some other things you can use it for with respect to photography. Consider this photo of Doubtful Lake taken from the Cascade Arm above Cascade Pass in the North Cascades:
Now compare that with the same basic view in Google Earth:
As you can see, you can actually get a sense of photo composition using Google Earth before visiting an area. It should be noted that this can have some limitations due to the way Google Earth functions. Elements that are closer to the viewer’s location are rendered with more detail than those elements which are located further from the viewpoint. This comes into play in some situations when there is a prominent feature that simply doesn’t show up due to simple distance. I can think of one situation where I replicated a photo I took of Venus & Spade Lakes below Mount Daniel and Mount Rainier (a pretty big feature) didn’t render in Google Earth because it was too far away from the viewpoint. Certainly not a deal killer but just be aware of it!
Now, in the latest versions of Google Earth, there is a new feature that can REALLY help photographers: the sunlight tool. After positioning your view, this tool will show you what the sunlight will look like across the landscape +/- 12 hours. It adds a new dialog in the upper right portion of the display. Simply drag the slider to adjust the time or just press play on the dialog.
If we consider the same Google Earth view of my Doubtful Lake photo, we can now simulate the conditions you’d expect at sunrise on New Years Day:
All in all, it’s a very powerful tool to help you find new locations..
Yesterday marked the true start of winter for me- the first day back on the slopes at the Mount Baker Ski Area. Situated in one of the most beautiful environments, both Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan are visible in addition to a number of other dramatic ridgelines. Ample snowfall and a laid back atmosphere make it my favorite ski area anywhere.
Getting there for me requires a fair bit of driving and as luck would have it, I ran smack dab into this:
A logging truck lost its load. Thankfully it appeared to be a solo accident and no one was hurt. Once making it to the ski area, I became re-acquainted to the winter muscle groups that lie dormant during the other parts of the year. Even with largely overcast conditions, there are always photo opportunities…
On the way home, I stopped outside the town of Glacier to explore more of the Horseshoe Bend trail alongside the North Fork Nooksack River. I had to retreat due to failing light but I stopped to take a couple quick photos. Here’s an HDR photo taken after sunset:
Happy New Year everyone!
