This has become one of my go-to places for sunsets…the way the sun hits the horizon illuminating the water and boats is sumptuous.
One advice is to scour your neck of the woods and find vantage points for sunrise and sunset. Ideally they would be no more than 20 minutes drive from your home. When the sky is beginning to look crazy grab your gear and head out.
I am always on the lookout for more spots like this. There is not much worse than seeing an incredible sky and not having a spot to make for. Well, actually there is a LOT worse than that, but you get the idea.
This first shot really does it for me, and to be perfectly honest I did not even see the light shining into the boat cabin until I got home! 
The thing that I love about this image is the markings on the deck of the boat. I am guessing that they are from ropes which had been coiled there. 
This last shot…what to say? The abandoned boat in the foreground has been pictured by me many times…and yet I am sure to return! 
Oh, and by the way, this location is on the Bayview-Edison Road, Here is the map.
Skagit Valley Greening Cards for Sale!
I have updated the cost of the cards and locations where you can purchase them!
Skagit Valley Greening Cards for Sale!
The 10 images below are now printed on 5.5″ x 8″ thick linen finish paper. They have a luxurious feel to them and the colors are magnificent. One side is the image an the other side has the name and location of the image. They can be send as post cards, but come individually sealed in a plastic sleeve with an envelope.
Price is $3.50 each; a bundle of one of each (10 cards) for $25.
Wholesale pricing available!
The shipping cost varies based on the number of cards you’d like, email me for prices
AndyPorterPhotography@gmail.com
Send in your payments (checks or money orders only, please!) to:
Andy Porter
440 Nelson Street
Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284
The cards will ship out within 24 hours of your order being received.
Here is a list of locations where you can purchase the cards:
In Mount Vernon
• Skagit Valley Hospital Main Pharmacy, in the Skagit Regional Clinic Building
• Skagit Valley Hospital at their new River Bend Facility Pharmacy
In Sedro-Woolley
• Simply Silver and More located on Metcalf Street in Downtown Sedro Woolley
• Hoagland Pharmacy on Highway 20
• Sedro Woolley Auto Licensing and Chamber of Commerce office on Metcalf Street
In La Conner
Caffe Jubilee on First Street
Skagit Valley Tulips
Sahale Glacier Camp, North Cascades National Park
Sedro-Woolley Carnival
Orange Sky, Pink Tulips @ Skagit Valley
Mount Baker
Sahale Arm Trail, North Cascades National Park
Light and Tulips
Point of the Arches, Olympic National Park
Indian Creek Waterfall, North Cascades National Park
Arches National Park
Nighttime Imaging Along Baker Lake Road
Baker Lake Road heads north from Highway 20. Skirting Lake Shannon, Baker Lake and finally the Baker River the road leads to darkness! About 20 miles up the road makes a sweeping curve over a cement bridge and this view of Mount Baker opens up.
Mount Baker under the Big Dipper
The roads end soon follows and a short hike in the darkness offered this view of Baker River.
Baker River, North Cascades
Skagit Valley Tulips: 2014
There are 3 good reasons that I take so many pictures of the Tulip Festival each year:
1. Tulips are incredibly colorful!
2. They are very close by!
3. The mountains are still covered with snow!
So, here is a sampling of my favorite images of the Tulips (and Daffodils!) from this year!
On the Cover of Northwest Travel magazine
Here is an image I captured and it is now on the cover of the May/June Issue of Northwest Magazine! The image is Mount Logan and a waterfall on the North Fork Bridge Creek Trail, North Cascades National Park. One of my favorite places in the North Cascades…Here is a link describing how to get there!
Here is my full sized original image:
“Wilderness 50” Celebration
2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Wilderness Act. In September of 1964 President Johnson signed into law the Wilderness Act, one of the most important pieces of legislation in the US regarding protection and preservation of Wilderness.
Wilderness 50 “The 50th Anniversary National Wilderness Planning Team (Wilderness50) is a growing coalition of federal agencies, non-profit organizations, academic institutions, and other wilderness user groups whose purpose is to plan and eventually implement local, regional, and national events and projects, specifically designed to elevate the profile of wilderness during the 50th anniversary celebration.”
One of their programs was to hold a photo contest and use the winning images as a part of their plans to inform people about the significance of the Wilderness Act.
More than 50 images were chosen and these will be displayed as large format prints in the Smithsonian Museum, in Washington DC starting in September!
I submitted several images to the competition and this image, here was chosen as an Honorable Mention in the People in Wilderness Category and will be used on signage for the various events and displayed in the museum.
Sahale Glacier Camp in the Steven Mather Wilderness in North Cascades National Park, in Washington.
As a part of the process I was asked to submit a personal story about the image. Here it is:
“My connection with wilderness began when I was 16. I spent a month in the Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho, learning how to backpack, climb and survive. The trip changed my life and encouraged me to continue. Treks along the Pacific Crest Trail and the Andes followed.
Then my life changed again and I was off on a different purpose. For almost 20 years I followed the light only to wind up in the darkness. And then I felt the wilderness call to me again, beckoning me back into her arms.
I had packed my old life in boxes and uncovering them produced an old hiking guide. I scoured it and found the most exciting sounding trip in there, recruited a few friends to accompany me and off we started.
I had forgotten what mileage and elevation gain portended and as we began our trip up to Sahale Camp. It slowly came back to me, what sweat and struggle were all about.
We finally made it to the camp well after dark and collapsed in our tent.
This image was captured the next morning. My life was changed anew; I had found a new purpose. Wilderness had rescued me again.”
I am excited and proud that any image of mine would be used to promote and protect wilderness!
Zion Canyon, Zion National Park
One of the most commonly captured images is from this view point, on the bridge over the Virgin River. The main highway makes a sharp curve and crosses this bridge. You will often see the bridge lined with photographers.
This shot was taken at about midnight, with a Canon 6D and a Rokinon 14mm lens.
I just got lucky on the satellite crossing and of course Orion looks stunning hovering above the scene…
More images from Left Fork Canyon, Zion National Park
Here are some more images from the “Subway” hike up Left Fork Canyon in Zion National Park. My last post with images from this trip included some info about permits and getting there and all that, so this post will just have images and some photo data.
Devils Garden Trail, Arches National Park
Arches National Park has many short hiking trails, each visiting a wonderland of red rock fins. One of the long-ish trails is the Devils Garden Loop.
The loop is 7 miles fantastic long, taking you through arches, up slick rock walls, along the tops of rock fins and through a labyrinth of magic.
With out a doubt one of the most fun and interesting hikes ever.
Here are a few more images!
Tips for Taking Great Trail Photos
1. The best light is in the morning and evening. Day hikes get you to your destination in the middle of the day. Plan your campsites to include the most scenic places. This may involve longer or shorter days that you would normally do, but it’s all worth it! A guide book is good for descriptions, you can get many great ideas of what and when to shoot but if I’ve never been to an area before, I do an image search for the specific place and get ideas of what’s there. I plan my entire trip around where I want to be at sunrise and sunset to take pictures.
2. Minimum of what to bring with you:
a. One lens – I always bring a Zoom Lens, a 24mm to 104mm or a 28mm to 135mm are good starting spots. This makes it possible to capture a wide angle shot and also get in close with the telephoto end. Of course it’s nice to have several lenses, but then you have to carry them!
b. Polarizer – This is a filter that attaches to the end of your lens. It handles refracted light so that the sky and clouds look wonderful and is a must for getting stunning images of water and reflections.
c. Light weight tripod, they are cheap and easy to strap on your pack. You can always weigh them down if needed
d. Simple cable release. When you use the tripod any movement of the camera makes the image blurry. This device allows take pictures without touching the camera.
e. Extra batteries, charged the night before you leave!
f. Lots of memory! Its cheap and doesn’t weigh anything
3. Avoid the auto mode for image capture. When you set the camera on automatic mode, the camera does all the thinking for you. You are a lot smarter than your camera! Instead use the Manual Mode on your camera or the various Creative Modes if there is no Manual setting.
4. Bracket your exposure. Bracketing means that you are capturing the same exact scene, but with different settings. This could include altering your depth of field (how much of the scene is in focus) or how bright or dark the image is. Scenes often have a great disparity between the dark areas and the bright ones. Try multiple shots, where you capture the details of one then the other.
a. Using the manual mode, set your aperture and shutter speed based on what the light meter tells you, THEN take several more shots of the same thing with slightly different exposures. If you have a manual setting, simply shoot over and under the recommended exposure.
b. If you are using a creative mode you can “trick” the light meter by pointing the camera a little bit above (or below or right or left) your intended subject, press the button half way, hold it, then lower or raise the camera back to your start spot and press the shutter the rest of the way.
5. Shoot in the RAW format. JPEG format compresses (and looses data from) the images, where as RAW records all the data and allows you to handle areas of over or under-exposure. It took a lot of effort to haul all your gear out there, not to mention yourself! The scenery is fantastic, the weather is perfect, who knows if you will ever have a chance to return…so shoot in RAW!
6. Four simple tips on Composition
a. The Rule of Thirds. Imagine a tic-tac-toe grid over your image. Try to get your subject on these lines, away from the middle. Get points of interest where the lines intersect.
b. Look for lines. Trails, clouds, trees, and more can create leading lines that add a wonderfully simple and compelling element to images. When you see a line anywhere walk all around it composing shots from different angles.
c. Reflections. Even a small puddle can make for a fantastic reflective composition. Get down on the ground for the best scope.
d. Near and Far. Pictures of an unbelievably awesome horizon will be 1,000 times better if you include something close. A tent, people, trees, flowers, any and all of these make a vista much more interesting.
North Western Images - photos by Andy Porter 