One of the perks of being stuck at home is to go back and comb the archives for hidden gems. The improvement in editing techniques can lease new life to old images that I had discarded as 'uneditable'. Lightroom's capabilities to selectively filter regions based on luminance and color ranges have proved invaluable in this.
This was one such image, which proved difficult to edit at the time I shot it (6 years ago) due to the high dynamic range. While I did take a few bracketed exposures of this scene, and shot a few others with a graduated ND filter, the former lacked sharpness due to lack of a tripod to keep the camera steady, and the latter introduced visual artifacts that were proving challenging to remove. With the new capabilities of LR, I was able to control exposure in a much better manner, and restore the photo to what I actually experienced at the scene.
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
WA USA
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
Blues and Reds
Seasons Greetings
A few days earlier, I posted about the difficulty of capturing sunrises since it is so hard to predict when and how the colors would hit, and whether there would be a 'burn' of significant color. This particular sunrise, featured above, had everything going for it. Until the last moment. The colors just tinged the horizon a few dozen miles away, and spread nowhere else. In this frame, I tried to make the most of the 'burn'.
Tahoma State 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
Above the clouds
September in the PNW is truly the best time to explore the vast hinterlands of the Cascades. The temperatures are a bit cooler, the bugs are gone, fires usually die down, and the occasional storms provide for some photogenic cloudscapes. And it comes with the added bonus of delicious ripe blueberries and huckleberries waiting to be picked up. The stark changes in the hues of the landscape towards the end of the month is just icing on the cake.
I can't wait for the next year to see such mountaintop vistas once again.
You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link.
Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
The high Caucasus
In August of this year, I found myself wandering through the Svaneti region of northern Georgia (the country). This mountainous province, landlocked within the high mountains of the Caucasus range, was a delight to explore. Snow-capped peaks towering over 15000ft lined the northern border of the country, interspersed by massive glaciers and alpine landscapes. This was the region that put Georgia on the prominent circuits of the European hiking community. And after spending a few days here, I could understand why.
Here is one of the mountain passes I summited during a 4-day trek in the Svaneti region, and is the featured image for August in my 2024 photography calendar. You can purchase my 2024 calendar at this link. And as before, all proceeds get donated to the Sierra Club Foundation.
Svaneti
Georgia
Novarupta
While the term Katmai National Park conjures up images of Fat Bear Week and of gluttonous grizzles gorging on salmon, I found the volcanic wastelands of the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes far more fascinating. The eruption of the Novarupta volcano which deposited hundreds of feet of ash on this vast valley took place in 1912, and it was the largest eruption of the 20th century. Though news of this eruption was overshadowed by an even more titanic disaster, the sinking of the Titanic.
Hiking into this remote valley left me with an itch to explore more of this unique landscape someday.
As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.
Katmai National Park
AK USA
Alpine Ascents
As I was selecting the images for the calendar, I pondered over how to theme the calendar correctly. And that meant digging through the archive to find representative images of various seasons. Sometimes that works, and sometimes I have to indulge in a bit of creative licensing to find the right image. This featured image for February, for example, was shot in the middle of summer, but it still captures a slice of winter high on the slopes of Mount Adam.
Mount Adams is one of those summit attempts that requires an alpine start. But starting the summit day amidst biting cold and in the dark at 9000ft of altitude isn't an easy task. But many do, as it allows you to climb up the steep slope before the snow becomes soft. Here is one group starting their morning ascent just as the western horizon emerges from the shadows and the the first rays of light hits Mt St. Helens.
As before, you can buy this calendar at this link.
Gifford Pinchot National Forest
WA USA
Winter Wonderland
With 2024 just a month away, I decided to pencil some time to create a calendar that captured memorable places that I had the opportunity to explore over the last 12 months. They predominantly feature scenes from the Pacific Northwest which I am blessed to call as home. But it also includes many places off the beaten track for most, including the remote National Park of the American Samoa, the Caucasus mountains of Georgia and the swamps of Congaree.
And as I do every year, I want to dedicate this calendar to the incredible people at the Sierra Club Foundation which helps protect our public lands and waters. All proceeds will be donated to this organization so that their journey can continue. You can buy this calendar at this link.
This image that you see is the January photo of the calendar.
Tahoma State Forest
WA USA
The border peaks
On the rugged terrain on the border with Canada are a set of three iconic peaks: Mt Larrabee, the American Border Peak and the Canadian Border Peak. A sunset view at any time of the year is spectacular. But at the right time of the year, the juxtaposition of colors, snow and light make for a memorable scene. Hope I can get to experience this once more before the season ends.
Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA