What is Earth Day all about?
We live on a cool planet.
Mount Rainier
It’s beautiful.
Point of the Arches
There are mountains.
Colchuck Lake, Enchantments
Oceans.
Washington Park, Anacortes
Rivers.
Bridge over Skagit River
Flowers.
Skagit Tulips
Meadows.
Pacific Crest Trail, Pasayten Wilderness
Animals.
Deer at Cascade Pass
People.
Atop Maple Pass
and LOTS more.
Park Butte Lookout
Lets try harder to not fuck it up!
Snow Geese on Fir Island, Skagit Valley
Skagit Valley
Spider Meadows
Isolation Lake is the first or last lake you visit on your trip into the Enchantment Basin, depending upon which direction you are hiking the loop.
Campers along Isolation’s shore
If you managed to hike up Aasgard Pass (more than 2,000 ft. elevation gain in less that a mile) than its your first.
Camped at Isolation Lake, Enchantments, Alpine Lakes Wilderness
Isolation Lake Panorama
If took the long route past Snowy Lake, then Isolation will be your last lake in the high country before heading down and out.
But either way, its a fantastic place.
Isolation Lake
High above timber line it is a world of rocks and ice.
Isolation Lake, Enchantments
Blue, gray and white are the colors here.
The air is crisp, sharp, clean.
A meadow is nearby with a small copse of larch hiding the toilet.
Isolation Lake
Sunset brings new colors, reds and orange, magenta and violet.
Isolation Lake
Later the stars appear.
Prints are available here!
Camped at Isolation
Dome in a moon scape
Isolation is a world of wonder.
Last week I was preparing materials for my latest photo class, on Photo Composition. I included basics on Subject and Theme, Rule of Thirds, selective focus, leading lines, framing and all the stuff I’d learned over the years, reading “How to…” articles and photo books.
Then I started thinking about what I actually do, in real life, when I am out taking pictures.
And I realized that while I do utilize all these things, what I really do is to focus my attention on adding what I call Elements of Coolness.
Isolation Lake, Enchantments
Sequim Balloon Festival
July 4th Carnival
Sunset on the Port Townsend Ferry
North Cascades Mountain Goat
So, when I am planning to head out to capture images I have (of course) a plan of what I am going to take pictures of, as in flowers, or mountains, or whatever. Mostly I am considering how I can add cool components to the shots. I await sunrise or sunset. I watch the skies and look for crazy clouds or weather. Water and reflections are a magnet for me. I get out there and scan for lines or patterns.
Samish River
I plan outings based on the moon cycle, flowers blooming, trees changing, sun setting and stars shining.
Colchuck Lake, Enchantments
Palouse Falls
But more often than not I am able to add coolness elements by going back several times. Once you’re at a place once you get a feel for the place. When you return you can even bring things with you, like more people, or a dog…or a photogenic tent.
Sahale Glacier Camp
Park Butte Lookout and Mount Baker
Tulips at Sunrise
Start a list of your own. Think in terms of how you can add cool elements. Work out learning new techniques for image capture (like nighttime shooting) so that your list is bigger. And Voila!, you will soon have cooler images of your own.
The Enchantments are a small series of peaks and lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, near Leavenworth, Washington. Here are a few images from last weekends encounter with mountain goats while hiking!
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
Enchantments and Mountain Goats
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!
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.
Sahale Glacier Camp sits at the base of Sahale glacier atop 3 piles of rubble each crowned with a ring of stone. The views are breathtaking: a 180 degree sweeping view of the North Cascades, a sea of peaks stretching out to the horizon.
I have visited many times and tried to capture the feel of the view. Here are several panoramas, some from sunrise, and several from sunset, each comprised of two or more images merged.
I just got word that these three images will be included in a new book about the North Cascades, due out in the Fall of 2014.
More details coming soon!
Camping under the stars
Mount Baker and Coleman Glacier
Hikers on Sahale Arm
Any trip over the North Cascades Highway necessitates a stop at the Washington Pass Lookout.
Located at the highest point along the highway, at more than 5,400 ft elevation, Washington Pass Overlook offers stunning views of Liberty Bell and Early Winter Spires.
This section of the North Cascades Highway makes for one of the most scenic drives in Washington and is a part of the Cascade Loop Scenic Highway
I have stopped there many times on the way to or from hikes in the Pasayten Wilderness. Each time the mountain shows a different countenance. Silver Star Mountain is also clearly in view from the Washington Pass Lookout. 
After Mount Shuksan I would have to guess that Liberty Bell is one of the most photographed mountains in the state, due to its stark beauty and easy access to the lookout area.
Several trips I have made to Washington Pass only to capture images, at sunrise, sunset and on clear starless nights!
These three images of Mount Rainier were captured while hiking along the Lily Basin Trail in the Goat Rocks Wilderness. The lake with the small island is called Packwood Lake.
North Western Images - photos by Andy Porter 