mt baker wilderness

A New Winter

The winter has been slow to come by in the Pacific Northwest in 2023. A warmer than usual winter meant that snow fell instead as rain, and the precipitation has been lower than expected for this time of the year (60% of normal). The last week saw the first major winter storm to hit the mountains, coating the Cascades with the light layer of fluffy snow.

I managed to make one last hike out here before the holidays hoping to catch alpenglow on a snow-covered Mt Shuksan. This was one of the compositions I made while freezing out on a mountain-top.


Happy New Year. And here is to hoping 2024 is just as colorful.


Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA

Winter sunrise

A while back, I sat down and thought about the effort that goes into sunrise photography, and I realized that it wasn't easy. It requires sacrificing sleep (and likely your previous night), hiking in the dark in unknown terrain, relying on multiple forecasts for a good sunrise and hoping they hold, and praying that you are not too late for the colors if they show up. In contrast, sunset photography is not as complex as there are fewer variables to consider since many of the unknowns become known. And if the forecast doesn't hold, you can always turn around. A colorful sunset is usually the 'icing on the cake' for a dayhike, whereas a colorful sunrise is the act you are putting all your hopes on and sacrificing a lot for.

This was one such sunrise for which I woke up at 2 in the morning and endured a 3hr drive and an hour of hiking to get to. Thankfully the forecast held, and the effort paid off.

You can purchase my 2024 calendar, which features the above image for December, at this link. And as before, all proceeds get donated to the Sierra Club Foundation

Mount Baker Wilderness
WA USA

Feathered Dust

I was exploring the snowy landscape of Mt. Baker Wilderness last week right after a fresh storm had dumped a few inches of snow. I had attempted to hike up in the dead of the night to catch a sunrise, but it was not as spectacular as I had hoped. The saving grace was observing the motion of snow as the gusts of wind picked it up and blew it around like sand.

Mt Baker Wilderness
WA USA

Frozen Sentinels

While we are slowly transitioning from spring to summer in the lowlands of the Pacific Northwest, the mountains are still winter wonderlands, and it will be a while before it takes on a summer coating. Meanwhile, there is still plenty of snow to enjoy.

Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA

Fairies of Winter

A fresh snow storm transformed the steadfast conifers into angels of white. While trudging to the knee deep snow, I paused for a moment to seek solace in the silence amidst these fairies of winter.

Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA

Colors of the Northwest

Fall has properly set in the Pacific Northwest: thunderstorms with wind gusts topping 30miles per hour, temperatures dropping to freezing, and gloomy grey clouds that blanket the skies every day. But before the weather became winter-like, I had managed one last outing into the mountains on a rare fall day with bluebird skies. Vibrant colors, a consequence of the long and warm summer, covered every square inch of the steep alpine slope, and also served as wonderful hunting grounds for the sweet mountain berries.

The short but sweet fall has been my favorite season to shoot, but scenes like these won't return for another year. I am glad I got to visit it one last time before the onset of winter

Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA

A Sunny Fall


Fall is here in the PNW, admittedly. Wandering around the neighborhood and on the hiking trails, the signs are unmistakable: the reddening leaves of the tiny blueberry shrubs, tall fireweed, and the broad leaved maples. That it is here a couple of weeks early, despite the mercury hovering around the nominal for this month. It meant that I had to prepone plans for capturing the rather short season when color changes around the Pacific Northwest.

Despite the spells of wet weather, I was able to head out during one of the sunnier days to capture the burst of colors carpeting the slopes of the North Cascades.

Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA

Waiting For Last Light

You wait in anticipation for this moment: as the sun approaches the horizon, the shadows lengthen, leaving the deep green valleys in cold darkness; the highest of the snow-capped ridges and glacier-covered peaks taken on a bright orange glow, while up above, the sky transforms from the azure blue of the day to the deep blue of dusk; clouds change from their frothy white to a deep orange as they drift effortlessly across the landscape.

As a photographer, it is not just the moment, but the actual transformation, that captures my attention, and draws me out to mountain-top vistas as the sun sets. Sometimes, I try to capture this as a timelapse, but in others, I just seek to capture a moment in time as the best possible representation of that beautiful evening.

Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA