Images of 2016

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The year has come to an end.

2017 and the future beckon. Like it or not, here they come!

But today is a day for reflection. To look back and see what was accomplished, to revisit the beauty and wonder I commiserated with and to merrily contemplate new sights to see and places to go.

First Beach, Olympic Coast

First Beach 3  These two images were captured at the fishing village of La Push, on the Olympic Coast. The image on the right is backlit by lights at the marina.

The image on the right features Orion as well as Em and Amber!

2017 Calendars are still available here!

 

One evening on the spring I had a premonition of a fiery sky, I headed over to Bow and found these images.

The Tulip Festival started in February again…well, the daffodils did anyway… Trying to find that perfect match with the flowers and the sky…what a fun problem to have!

My first serious backpack for the year ended up getting rained and stormed out midway, but I did find a few flowers along the way, in the Pasayten Wilderness.

My night sky images for the year took me to Diablo Overlook, Washington Pass Overlook and Winchester Mountain Lookout several times each.

The opportunity opened to return to Spider Meadows, and climb up and over the pass at Spider Gap. What a fantastically exhilarating feeling to crest the top and look down to Lyman Basin below…

If you haven’t spent the night in a Fire Lookout, make sure to put it on your list…choose a evening when there are mostly clear, partly cloudy skies forecast and get ready for a color show! These images are from Winchester Lookout, above Twin Lakes.

Fall is a wonderful time for hiking, no bugs and great colors…these images are from Washington Pass and Blue Lake.

I led a Night Sky Photo Tour Eastern Washington to capture images of the old Govan School House… if you’re interested in learning Night Sky  Imaging, you may like to come out on a Night Sky Photo Tour

And lastly, visited my favorite camping spot in Washington, Sahale Glacier Camp! Here are some details if you’d like to go out on a North Cascades Photo Tour this coming summer!

I wish you excitement and adventure in 2017, anything but a boring life! I look forward to hearing of and seeing images of the places you go and the things you do! Have fun and hope to see you on the trail,

Andy

Mud, Bus and Tulips

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tulips-mud-and-busMade 16 visits to the tulips last spring, still haven’t really inspected all the images yet. Here’s one from a day I went rainbow hunting… unsuccessfully.

Night Sky Images 2016

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Here, in no particular order, are the best night shots from this last year.

I am seriously looking forward to many new adventures in 2017.

For information about Night Sky Photo Tours, click here!

2017 Washington State Scenic Calendar is here!

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The new 2017 Washington State Scenic Calendar is here!

Printed on 8.5″ x 11″ 100lb bond glossy paper the images will really pop with color and vibrance.

In my opinion, its my best calendar yet.

The calendars will be $20 each. Shipping anywhere in the US is $6 and anywhere out of the US the shipping cost is $12.

Calendars ship out in 24 hours.

We will ship your calendars anywhere you’d like!

Here is the link to order!

Here are the images from this years calendar.

Recent Night Sky Images

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Over the past 3 weeks I have visited the Pasayten Wilderness, the Glacier Peak Wilderness, Winchester Mountain Lookout (twice), Artist Point – for a North Cascades Institute Class and the Diablo Overlook – for a North Cascades National Park  class.

The Glacier Peak trip was not during ht e new moon, but I was able to get a few good shots early in the night, before moon rise. I was out working to capture an image of the tent at Upper Lyman Lake, with the Milky Way behind, over Spider Gap. I could clearly hear and animal sniffing around. It was a deer, come to find place where anyone peed, to lick the spot for any lingering salt.

I decided to see if I could capture the deer in the image, and it worked pretty well!

The Winchester Mountain Look out is a perfect place to spend the night and shoot night sky images…

The Night Sky Photo Class that I lead though the North Cascades Institute was held at Artist Point. There were 14 of us, we parked at the Artist Point rest area and started to hike to Huntoon Point. There were more than 50 other night sky photo enthusiasts there, all out along the same trail! We asked and were told that they were all from Vancouver, BC! The skies got cloudy, but we managed a  few shots.

The last class was on Aug. 1st, another Night Sky Photo Class, this one through the North Cascades National Park, as a part of the NPS Centennial. About 15 people arrived and we hung out at the overlook, trying to learn the basic tools of night sky capture.

There are two New Moons in September, on the 1st and 30th! If you’re interested in a Night Sky Photo Tour, here are the details!

Photo Classes at North Cascades National Park

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Photo Classes at North Cascades National Park

2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service. Landscape Class July 11

This is definite cause for celebration! National Parks are fantastic places, full of wonder and fun.

I am proud to be leading two classes in the North Cascades National Park this summer!

The first class is a Landscape Photography Workshop, scheduled for Monday, July 11th from 6 to 9pm. The class will be held at the North Cascades National Park Visitors Center, in Newhalem.

Be sure to bring your camera! We will start the class with a lecture and slide show covering the basic of Nature Photo Composition and then we will head out side to practice what our new-found knowledge!

 

Night Sky Aug. 1The second class is a Night Sky Photography Class. This will be held on Monday, August 1st at the Diablo Lake Overlook, at Mile Marker 132, on the North Cascades Highway.

This class is for anyone interested in capturing images of the Milky Way. There will be no moon in the sky, and if we get clear skies we will be able to see and capture the arc of the Milky Way above Diablo Lake!

See the flyer here for a list of what you need to bring!

Both classes are free. Hope to see you there!

Email me of you have any questions: andyporterphotography@gmail.com

Flickr Explore

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Flickr Explore

If you’ve taken a photograph at any point since 2004, chances are you have heard of Flickr. Whether shot by professional or amateur, advanced or novice, more than 6 billion photos have taken up residence on Flickr, the Web’s most popular image hosting community. Each day the best images are selected for Flickr Explore.

Explore is Flickr’s way of showcasing the most interesting photos within a given point in time — usually over a 24 hour period.

Flickr receives about 6,000 uploads every minute — That’s about 8.6 million photos a day! From this huge group of images, the Flickr Interestingness algorithm chooses only 500 images to showcase for each 24-hour period. That’s only one image in every 17,000!

My Flickr name is i8Seattle. Here is a link to my Flickr page!

So far I’ve had 34 of my images showcased on Flickr Explore.I must admit that its a pretty big win for me when one of my images is chosen for Explore!

Explore Images

Here are a few of MY favorites.

Govan Schoolhouse

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Capturing cool images of the Milky Way is a lot of fun. Adding stars, especially the strip of the Milky Way Galaxy to an image create such an awesome look and feel.

So I am always searching for new elements of coolness for foreground interest. The idea of old, abandoned buildings came to mind, and I began to search for a likely place.

I wanted a wooden structure, old and beaten. It needed to be off, away from any city or town, so that the sky would not be washed out by light pollution.

A google search landed me at the Govan Schoolhouse and I knew right away where the next New Moon would take me.

I called the local city hall, in Wilbur, to check and see if the building was still standing and made my way east along with several night sky photo friends.

The building is located well off the beaten path, though there two farms close by.

As the sky darkened and the Milky Way became visible I made my way inside with several lanterns and lights of various kinds, too illuminate the schoolhouse with a glow.

The next New Moon is July 4th! If you are interested in coming along on the next Night Sky Photo Adventure, here is a link with the details!

Happy Star Shooting!

Skagit Valley Barn at Sunset

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Skagit Valley Barn at Sunset

There is something about an old, weathered wooden barn that captures the imagination. I guess barns in general are cool, but to grab attention the barn needs to be made of wood AND look like its seem a bit too many winters.

That gives it a certain character, a personality. barns re great photo subjects anytime. Autumn is always a wonderful barn season, with the fall colors. But for me, spring is the time! Bright green meadows and fantastically colorful skies  make a barn image complete!

There are many barns strewn through the Skagit Valley and I was lucky to catch one of my favorites on a night just right for picture taking!

BTW, if you have an interest in capturing Night Sky Images with old barns and buildings, this coming new moon, June 4th, I am leading a night sky class to Eastern Washington to capture Milky Way images and old abandoned buildings. Here is the link for more info!

Samish Overlook

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The Samish Overlook is a wonderful location for capturing images of the Skagit Valley. From the drive-to viewpoint you look out over Chuckanut Drive, Bow, and Samish Island to the south and a myriad of islands and water to the west.

Getting there is easy, take the Alger Exit off of I-5, head west at the end of the ramp and turn onto Barrell Spring Road. In about a quarter mile hang a right and head up hill on a dirt road (there is a sign for the Blanchard Mountain Trail system, and follow all the way to the Lookout. There you will find a paved parking area, rest rooms, benches and a great view.

You will need a Discover Washington Pass to park!

Spring is my favorite time, when the flowers start blooming, but any sunrise or sunset is spectacular.

This is one of my favorite places to take people for the North Cascades Photo Tour, find out more here!   

And if you’d like to purchase prints of any of these images, here is the link!