2019 in Review: Andy Porter Images

2019 in Review: Andy Porter Images

Through the course of an entire year I take a lot of pictures. Its fun to look back at the images you captured earlier, to reconnect with the places you’ve been.

I choose these because there is some element about each one of these images that captivates me.

Happy Holidays and may 2020 be your best year to date!

Debay’s Swan Reserve, Clear Lake

Hals Drive-In, Sedro-Woolley

Fir Island at Sunrise

Daffodils under the Moonlight

Skagit Valley at sunset

Sun Mountain, Winthrop

Samish River, Skagit Valley

Cap Sante Marina, Anacortes

Rainbow, Sedro-Woolley

Liberty Bell, North Cascades

Night sky over the North Cascades Highway

Mount St. Helens

Artist Point, Mt Baker Highway

Point of the Arches, Olympic National Park

Mount Baker and Skagit River

Washington Pass, North Cascades

Fir Island, Skagit Valley

Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park

Skagit Valley, near Clear Lake

Point Wilson Light House, Port Townsend

2020 Night Sky Calendar is available. Click here to see the images and order your copy before they’re all gone!

Photography Classes in Burlington at Parks and Rec start in Jan, 2020. Here is the link to sign up.

Fir Island Sunrise

Its always good to start any day with a colorful sunrise. Some nice clouds, water for reflections, a wide panoramic view…maybe some mountains off in the distance all make the scene perfect.

These images are from two very recent visits to Fir Island sunrise.

Sunday, November 24

Thursday, November 28

The broad expanse of sky, over the ocean and mouth of the Skagit River. There are several vista spots alone Fir Island Road, most require a Discover Pass.

2020 Night Sky Calendars are available here.

Interested in a Photo Tour? Tulip Photo Tours in April are now filling up fast. 

Night Sky Photo Tours are my favorite! More info here. 

Skagit River and Mount Baker

Not long ago I saw an image of Skagit River with Mt Baker looming above. It was a gorgeous image and started me on a hunt.

I have been here in Skagit Valley for 15 years now and have never encountered a vista that encompassed both the Mountain and the River. Skagit River runs east to west through the valley and Baker sits about 10 miles to the north.

A short study of the map revealed that there are several spots where the Skagit turns back on itself so that you can look “down the river” and right at Mt Baker. I started my search along the Concrete Sauk Valley Road, looking to visit the confluence of the Sauk and Skagit Rivers. It was a lot of fun tooling about, on both sides of the river, scouting for views, vistas, and access trails down to the gravel bars along the river.

Here are a few pics from my endeavors:

After a bit of search I finally found a spot along the Concrete-Sauk Valley Road where you can scramble down to the gravel bar and out to this view: Looking north to Mt Baker, from the Skagit River

 

Autumn in Skagit Valley and North Cascades

One doesn’t normally associate the northwestern corner of the US with fall colors. New England the Mid-Atlantic states in the northeast are usually the focus of any autumn photo spread.

But autumn in Skagit Valley and North Cascades is not too shabby.

The valley and the rivers make wonderful spots for fall.

Up the valley a bit along the Baker and Skagit Rivers fall colors abound. Salmon spawn in the fall. The entire valley is lit up and on display!

The 2020 Washington State Night Sky Calendar is now on sale! Get your copy here.

The main contributors to Fall here in the North Cascades are the blueberry/huckleberry bushes, which carpet the mountains in bright reds and the larch, who’s green needles turn bright orange in the first week or October. . .

North Cascades Photo Tours are also available!

Larch grow new green needles each spring, and in early October they turn orange and fall off! The elevation of the larch varies in Western Washington, usually you can find the larch between 5,000 and 7,000 ft elevation.

Fine Art Prints as well as Canvas Wraps are also available in a wide range of sizes and frames. Here is the Gallery Page.

Sunset at Artist Point

The Mt Baker Highway (WA Rte 542) runs from Bellingham Bay east, through the town of Glacier, past the two ski lodges and finally, to the roads end, at Artist Point.

The road to the ski areas is open year round, but the last few miles of road up to Artist Point is only open in the summer.

The view is quite dramatic, with Mt Shuksan looming above on one side, while the huge snow cone of Mt Baker sits by at arms reach.

Here are a few pics from a recent visit at sunset, and beyond.

 

 

 

Vistas of Skagit Valley

Always in the hunt for new vistas of Skagit Valley, here are some of the vistas I’ve visited in the last few years.

Night Sky Class at Artist Point

I teach Night Sky Photography through the North Cascades Institute, 2 or 3 classes a year.

The most recent class was July 31. We all met at the Glacier Public Information Center. The people from NCI came with a bus.

There were 15 students, we all met there and prepped our camera settings in the parking lot, jumped in the bus, and made our way up the hill to Artist Point.

We were there a bit early, so we practiced a bit, and when it was dark, we spread out and captured images.

I was busy, visiting the students to help with the details.

The sky was partly cloudy, we weren’t sure what we’d get, but as real darkness fell the vista was amazing.

Here are a few pics I managed while enjoying the dark spaces.

I teach photography for adults in Burlington, at Parks and Rec. Classes start in September.

I also do Night Sky Photo Tours, here is the link.

2020 Calendar – Night Sky Images of Washington State

2020 Calendar – Night Sky Images of Washington State

The 2020 Calendar is here a bit early this year!

There are several reasons for this, first, people who visit Washington in the summer want calendars! And normally none are available. Also I wanted to do a Night Sky Calendar for some time, which means no need to worry about getting seasonal images, etc etc.

So, here it is, the 2020 Calendar – Night Sky Images of Washington State

The calendar is printed on 100lb bond, gloss stock, really nice paper. The size is 8′ x 12′ (a bit bigger than normal) which means that I didn’t have to either crop the image, OR add a border to the print.

Ring bound and shrink wrapped, they are ready to ship anywhere your heart desires!

$20 each, shipping $6

You can order your copy here.

The Night Sky Images of Washington State – 2020 Calendar is for sale locally at:

North Cascades National Park / Forest Service Headquarters, Sedro-Woolley

Skagit Valley Food Co-op, Mt Vernon

Sedro-Woolley Chamber of Commerce, Sedro-Woolley

Bulk Orders and Orders for Resale are available! Contact me at Andyporterphotography@gmail.com

Here are the 14 images

Sauk River

I spend a fair amount of time driving in search of vistas. A recent trip took me on a new route along the Concrete Sauk Valley Road.

The Sauk River drains a large area north west of Glacier Peak, in the North Cascades. These images are just above the confluence of the Sauk and Skagit Rivers.

The week had been rainy and gray, but there was one short window of light and somehow I managed to arrive in time for the sunset light show.

The wide open spaces on the gravel bars are calling me to come back!

Night Sky Images of Washington State

I have been capturing night sky images of Washington State for about 4 years now. These 14 images display my moments of good luck so far.

Capturing nice Milky Way shots is not difficult, technically. A decent camera, wide angle lens, tripod and remote are all that’s needed. The aperture, shutter speed, ISO and focus are all set. You can read more about the settings here.

The tricky part is getting yourself and camera to a spot far away from light pollution, on a night when there is
a.) No moon in the sky and
b.) No clouds covering up the stars!

Once you get that all figured out, then its a matter of practice, trail and error (lots of errors), and really just getting yourself out there.

The settings for these types of images were the same:

  • Milky Way shots: Aperture: f2/8 ; Shutter Speed: 30 seconds ; ISO 2,500 to 6,400
  • Star Trail Shots: Aperture: f2/8 ; Shutter Speed: 20 minutes ; ISO 100

Here are the details on each image.

First Beach, Olympic Coast This is First Beach, in La Push, down the road from Forks. I used this huge stump to block the light pollution from the small village. This was taken in January, and the Milky Way is faint.

Winchester Lookout at Dawn Late September, the Lookout had been battened down for the fall… Early sunrise created a split sky of colors, while my friends meditated with their I phone. They would have the phone “on” for just 2 or 3 seconds during my 30 exposure. The light in the lookout is from a very dim stand-up flashlight I put on the floor of the building

Crystal Mountain Ski Resort The plan was to wander off from the resort and camp and takes pics. This was shot at about 2am, in late July. There are several satellites in this image. When using a wide angle lens you have to be very close to any foreground objects, or they will be very tiny in your image.

Sahale Camp, North Cascades National Park This is the highest camp site in the North Cascades National Park, at more than 7,500 ft. The view is facing south. 30 second exposure, my friends in the tent had the light on for 1 -2 seconds. Any longer and the tent would be over exposed.

Night Sky Images of Washington State 2020 Calendar

This year I started the Calendar early! We printed on 8″ x 12″ sheets of 100lb bond, glossy paper.

They really look fabulous! Each individually wrapped.

The calendar is now back from the printer and ready to ship anywhere in the world!

Order Yours Here

Palouse Falls is a wonderful spot for Night Sky Imaging, its very remote and scenic. Someone started a campfire in the basin that night, and that’s where the wonderful illumination comes from in this shot.

Mount Larrabee, North Cascades This is a 20 minute exposure. The green glow along the horizon is the Aurora Borealis! This image was captured from atop Winchester Mountain.

Nighttime at Diablo Overlook Here is a south facing view of Colonial Peak, from Diablo Overlook. The star trails are streaks across the frame. If you shoot pointing north the star trails form a circle.

Milky Way over the North Cascades Highway at the Washington Pass Overlook. This image was taken on June 2nd, at about 1am. As the Earth rotates the Milky Way arcs across the sky. The tail lights from a car headed east, to Winthrop, provide the lighting for this pic.

Mount Shuksan and Picture Lake This famous view of Mt Shuksan affords some nice reflective opportunities! Its easy to get to, and from there you can head up to Artist Point for more images of Mts. Shuksan and Baker.

Buying Prints

Prints are available for all images. Traditional paper prints of all sizes are possible. These come ready for matting and framing. Canvas Wrapped Prints of any styles and sizes are also available directly from the web site. Here is the link to the Night Sky Gallery. Feel free to call me if you have any questions. 360-809-0661.

Also, if you use the code: NIGHTSKY50 you will receive 50% off your order!

Govan School House. Located near Wilbur on Hwy 2, this remote abandoned building was perfect for night sky. We illuminated the inside with a Coleman Lantern and a few other orange/yellow lights. I would love to find some more old building or barns to do this again!

Park Butte Lookout and Mt Baker. I brought a very dim flash light and hung it from the ceiling, I could barely see it from out side, and it provided plenty of light for me. It looks like the stars emanate from the crater on Mt Baker!

Liberty Bell, North Cascades Highway. The Washington Pass Overlook is one of the best spots there is to capture night sky pics. Its VERY dark, the foreground is outstanding (Liberty Bell and the hairpin turn in the North Cascades Hwy) and its easy to park and get there in the dark.

Camped along Baker River, North Cascades. I would start the 30 second exposure and yell to them: Turn it on! and then after 1 second, Turn it off! that was plenty of light on their faces and the tent. The gravel bars along Baker River are an easy distance and very dark spots for night sky.

Winchester Lookout and the Northern Lights. For long exposures, if you point towards the North Star, all of the other stars will make concentric circles. The green and reddish glow is the Aurora Borealis.

Night Sky Photo Classes and Photo Tours

Currently I am scheduled to teach one more Night Sky Photo Class this year, through the North Cascades Institute. It is scheduled for Wednesday night, July 31, and you can find out more here, and register.

Night Sky Photo Tours are also available each month at the New Moon. I take individuals and groups to Drive-in locations, like the Washington Pass Overlook, or Artist Point. For those adventurous photographers who can carry a 30 lb backpack up hill for a while, there are back country locations we can visit, like the Park Butte or Winchester Mountain Lookouts. You can find out more here, and feel free to email or call if you have any questions.