Landscapes

Winter Light

On a rare storm-free winter weekend in Washington, I managed to sneak out to the Olympic coast in search of some color after a long spell of the famous PNW greys. Thankfully the sky opened up that weekend for what turned out to be a remarkable sunset. I tried multiple compositions of that sunset, trying to frame the seastack and the small tidepools with the setting sun. This was one such outcome from that memorable sunset

Olympic National Park
WA USA

Light on the Larches

When I travel outdoors, I am constantly surprised by how life clings on to the barest of environments. While I struggle to grow potted plants indoors, I have found both colorful shrubs and towering trees grow in the tiniest nooks and crannies without any additional help.

Such as this group of larches showing off their golden coat amidst the stark rocky landscape of the eastern Cascades.

Okanogan Wenatchee National Fores
WA USA

The Rocky Frontier

This was one of the most torturous climbs I had ever done, partly due to the fact that it was a fourteener and I hadn't really acclimatized, and partly because I was climbing up in snow which caused traction issues. I still remember reserving all my stamina for the final push to the summit just so that I could have this panoramic view of this amazing mountainscape. Snow-capped peaks towered above the undulating landscape in all directions on this blue-bird day, the last of a rare weeklong stint of sun in the Rockies

White River National Forest
OR USA

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Tulip Star

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It pays occasionally to dip below the line of flowers to capture a photo of the one

I was looking to capture unique compositions of the tulip fields when I noticed that the sun was very low on the horizon. I realized that I could use the dense rows of tulips to block the sun, and capture a sunstar when the tulips swayed with the wind. After a few trials, this was the final composition

Skagit Valley
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

Rolling Greens of Palouse

The velvety greens of Palouse have me salivating for a trip to eastern Washington in summer. It is a landscape remarkably different from the urban scenes of Seattle, the lush forested landscape of the PNW or the snow-capped summits of the Cascades. And in the right light and location, Palouse really shines.

Steptoe Butte State Park
WA USA

Above Eagle Falls

The draw of Emerald bay in Lake Tahoe is its unique setting: a large bay in an even larger lake, ringed by mountains and thick pine forests. It used to be one of my favorite haunts when I lived in California, for, in the right light, it offered remarkable opportunities for hiking and photography.

Emerald Bay State Park
CA USA

Golden Honor

Seems like just yesterday I was hiking through a larch forest in peak fall foliage. I spied endless mountain slopes covered in resplendent gold, glowing in the morning sun under a crisp autumn sky.

How is it that six months have passed already?

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
WA USA

Framing a fourteener

Imagine sitting down inside a warm log cabin nestled a winter wonderland, with a window overlooking distant snow-capped peaks.
This cabin wasn't one of those. It was a decaying remnant of an old mining or hunting cabin: its roofs had long since gone, and one of its sides was already missing.

But the window framing the snow-capped peak was still around, waiting for this composition.

White River National Forest
CO USA