Sawtooth Wilderness - Part B

 Redfish Lake to Alpine Lake...and Back

Headed into the Redfish Creek Valley

This part of the adventure was a short one. Just one overnight. I shed a good bit of gear to travel lighter. Entering via Redfish Lake I travelled along Redfish Creek then up the valley wall into the Alpine Lake watershed.

Iconic view along Redfish Creek.

This valley is spectacular. A deeply carved glacial relief surrounded on both sides by high peaks and steep walls displaying hanging valleys. 

View toward Decker Peak

The climb up to Alpine Lake was arduous but filled with beauty. Late season wildflowers covered the hillsides and the views were wonderful.

On the way to Alpine Lake

Arriving at Alpine Lake I found several nice campsites. After setting up camp I scouted the lake looking for a promising sunset view. The sunset was not intense, rather the day softly faded into night providing a muted display. 

Sunset on Alpine Lake

A bit of rain arrived overnight but as the region is typically quite parched this time of year it was quickly absorbed and the ground remained dry. Grey morning light faded into another bright blue day for the hike out. 

This fellow showed no interest in moving and allowed me to walk right up and snap this shot.

Exiting across Redfish Lake

The lodge at the end of the lake runs a boat shuttle. The shuttle saves a 5 mile hike along the lake and provides an excellent view back toward the valley.

I covered about 27 miles over 5 days, not an overly strenuous expedition but given the altitude and associated elevation gains provided a good workout. I had pared down my camera gear to just 2 lenses, camera body, and tripod plus a small point-and-shoot. Going forward I definitely plan to acquire a lighter tripod. Since returning I have shed about 10 pounds of gear in preparation of my next trip. I have acquired a light 1-man tent, simplified water filtration system, and mini canister stove. I am in the search for a lighter pack capable of carrying my camera gear and reduced amount of gear, which should eliminate another 3 to 4 pounds. My goal is a pack weighing no more than 40 pounds, preferably closer to 35, able to sustain me for 2 to 3 days in the backcountry. 

Into The Sawtooth Wilderness

Sawtooth Wilderness - Part A

This is a recount of my recent experience backpacking through the Sawtooth Wilderness near Stanley, Idaho. I did two trips between August 17th to the 23rd. The original plan was to do one longer extensive trip but as I loaded my pack with what I felt I needed plus the camera equipment I wanted I decided 2 shorter trips wiser and more achievable than 1 longer trip. Turns out this was a good decision. While my physical condition proved adequate, living at sea level and adjusting to the Sawtooth's elevation which ranges between 7,000 and 10,000 feet proved challenging - to say the least.

The first trip started at Pettit Lake and climbed the Alice and Twin Lakes drainage area. What looked like an easy climb in from the lake proved more difficult than anticipated. 

Looking across Pettit Lake toward the objective of Alice Lake. Only 5 miles away and less than 2,000 feet higher it still provided a substantial challenge to my sea level acclimated respiratory system.

The look back provided a more dramatic perspective. The climb definitely wore me out. I was glad to arrive at Alice Lake and find a pleasant campsite.

Settling in for the evening I captured several images of El Cap which borders Alice Lake. 

El Cap reflecting in calm waters of Alice Lake.

I like both versions of the photograph above, but I tend to favor the b&w version for its impact and drama.

Afterglow from the setting sun baths the mountain in soft light while illuminating the clear evening air with purples and magentas. 

I recorded a few images after the stars came out but moonlight from the waning moon did not allow for what I regard to be a decent photograph. My sleeping bag was warm and comfortable. So I laid back in my tent with the fly off and fell asleep watching the stars above and the moonlight casting shadows on the cliff faces across the lake. A day well spent. Hopes for an enjoyable tomorrow.

My alarm went off at 5:30 A.M. Sunrise was not for another hour but climbing out of my tent I found the sky already growing bright. Grabbing my gear and flicking on my headlamp I stumbled out of camp and back along the trail leading to a location I had identified the afternoon before.  I arrived just in time as the first rays of light began to illuminate the peaks to the west. 

Morning light striking the peaks to the west of Alice Lake reflect in the calm lake's water.

I thought I had captured the perfect shot and began my return to camp when I came across this view.

Alice Lake at sunrise. 

I love this shot. Completely unplanned and unexpected. I walked past this location on the way in the day before. The previous shot is nice, but the peninsula projecting into the lake offers so much more content and depth to the photograph. This one will be hanging in my home.

Arriving back at camp I was about to prepare breakfast when I noticed the presence of the moon. That moon that had so disturbed my ability to capture a decent starlight shot the night before was displaying itself magically above the peaks to the west. Breakfast could wait. 

Moon over Alice Lake. 

Another totally unplanned and unexpected shot. I knew the moment I saw this composition I would process it in b&w. To gain the desired reflection I had to climb atop a set of boulders near the shoreline. I did so quietly so as to not disturb some campers nearby. The sky was already a deep blue allowing me to create a dark tone by turning down its luminosity during processing. I think this one might find a place to be hung in my home as well.

After breakfast I broke camp and began the climb toward Snowyside Pass.  The climb up that morning did not affect me as much as the climb in the day before. Topping out at 9,500 feet I enjoyed the view back down the pass in both directions.

Passing late summer wildflowers on the climb up Snowyside Pass.

Twin Lakes as seen from Snowyside Pass.

View toward Toxaway Lake from Snowyside Pass. Toxaway Lake is out of view from this location. A lesser lake presents itself below the pass. 

Arriving at Toxaway Lake I sought out a location the I thought might afford me a decent opportunity to capture a sunset, should conditions allow.

View across Toxaway Lake looking back toward Snowyside Pass.

While waiting for the sun to set I entertained myself shooting a few images. As I've mentioned before, I'm a sucker for backlit foliage. I am especially drawn to the contrasts of light and dark provided when conifers are backlit.

Sometimes the look down can be uplifting. I liked the way this lake debris appeared and wondered how many years it takes for deposits such as this to fully degrade in the cold lake water.

The sunset I hoped for when selecting this campsite did not disappoint. I captured over 200 images of that sunset from several vantage points. 

Sunset on Toxaway Lake. 

I realize for some the photograph below will not be appealing. However, while trying to capture the grandeur of that sunset I found myself both frustrated and disappointed. Processing the images captured did not alleviate the feeling of disappointment. How fortunate are artists like Thomas Moran to not be restricted to the pure reality of the moment and able to allow themselves the freedom of expression witnessing such a scene can inspire. I feel the following photograph better represents what I saw and felt alongside that lake in the fading light of what was a wonderful day. 

Toxaway Lake Sunset

The walk out the next day was for the most part uninspiring. A near 8 mile long trek I passed a few small waterfalls and meadows and one attractive small lake, but nothing that motivated me sufficiently to capture anything more than a few passing shots. 

However, the following sunset taken along the Salmon River just downstream of Stanley, ID, seems a fitting last shot for this segment.

Sunset over Sawtooth Wilderness with Salmon River in foreground.

The second part of my little adventure will follow.

Rivers, Trees, and Light

Eagle Cap Wilderness

View toward the Eagle Cap Wilderness from near Enterprise, OR. The Wilderness is a crescent shaped area surrounding the plain upon which Enterprise sits.

Stopped off at this region on my way from the Cascades to the Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho (next post). I had visited this area a few years ago on a late winter backcountry ski trip. I have interest in exploring this area in the not to distant future and wanted to get a look at it during summertime.

Lostine River

The Lostine River runs clear and cold and I expect contains a healthy population of trout.

The Lostine River runs northward out of the Wilderness through a set of deep canyon walls. A variety of dispersed roadside camping spots are located along the river road that follows the river. I found a pleasant spot for the evening and settled in alongside the stream. 

I tried to capture an image of the river itself but was disappointed with both the composition and available light, but I did find the stream interesting. This photograph is a bit abstract but actually has very little post processing; I mostly removed some of the harsh blue light being cast onto the surface of the water.  A circular polarizing filter was used to adjust for the amount of reflection coming off the surface. Color tones and luminosities are unmodified. 

Backlit Pine

The late afternoon sun illuminates the branches of this tree while those on the opposing bank of the river are already in the shadow of the ridge behind.

I'm a sucker for backlit trees. I feel this sort of lighting provides an added dimension and challenge. On occasion I have included a starburst sun breaking through, but in this case I wanted to try and record the texture of the tree's bark along with the intensely lit needles. This was taken at 1/60 of a second with a simple point-and-shoot camera with an aperture of f/4.4.  

Rainier Sunset...and Sunrise

Sunset

Light from the setting sun reflects off clouds formed from coastal moisture being pushed up over Mt. Rainier.  Turbid waters of the Inter Fork of the White River carry sediment and debris downstream.

Looking west. A freshwater side stream cascades over granite boulders as it joins with the Inter Fork.

To capture the first shot I had to position myself on unstable boulders alongside a rapidly flowing stream. Muffled thuds and clacks could be heard coming from below the surface of the water as the strong flow pushed boulders along the stream bed. The sky was clearing and I considered waiting for stars to emerge but thought better of it imaging myself stumbling my way back along the shoreline in the dark.

The second shot was actually captured a bit earlier. My original composition was turned 90 degrees to this orientation but included the roofline of a RV parked in the campground nearby. I shifted my location to eliminate the RV and found the lighting on the distant mountains a pleasant addition to the shot. A better composition all around.

Sunrise

Morning light illuminates Mount Rainier. A meadow of late summer wildflowers provide an appealing foreground.

Not being familiar with the area around Rainier I studied the map the evening before and decided to travel to the area on the mountain with the encouraging name of Sunrise. Arriving while still dark I followed a trail leading out along a ridge hoping for a view spot. In the predawn light I happened upon this scene. As the sun broke over the horizon the the mountain quickly illuminated and the sky brightened very quickly leaving the foreground dark and relatively indistinct. I quickly made several exposures adjusting for both exposure and focus, my objective being to not overexpose the mountain, underexpose the wildflowers, and all the while capturing both in focus along with intermediate mid ground. 

Several weeks later while processing images back home I merged a collection of images allowing for a final composition reminiscent of the scene I saw that day. Arriving at a proper white balance was probably the most challenging aspect of this photograph. I'm content with this result, but it is likely I will revisit the processing again in the future when I remember less but desire more.

Addendum

I stopped to capture these images on the way down from the Sunrise Area. Taken with a simple point-and-shoot the quality is not very good, but I especially like the feel of the second shot. Driving down off this location I encountered the fog below and at one point rounding a bend I was presented with a spectacular scene. Fog streaming up from the below was being pushed through a set of conifers as the sun's light created an ethereal glow. There was no where to stop and pull off. I drove beyond. Found a place to turnaround and went back, only to find the opportunity gone. It would have made an amazing photograph. Sigh.

Goat Island Mountain captures the morning light as it sheds a mantel of evening clouds.

Valley fog begins to dissipate with the warming sun.

Awash in the Midday Sun

Baker River upstream of Baker Lake. Aug08, 2019

High Noon

Of late I am enamored with creating painting effects out some of my photographs. In particular, I am enjoying creating such photographs out of images taken in bright noontime light.

Traditionally photographers are coached to take images in soft light; especially favored are the hours around sunset or sunrise. During this time of day shadows are less harsh and subjects are side-lit. Contrasts are less severe and colors, if not muted, are generally more pleasing. These times of day are referred to as the Golden Hours.  I do like morning and evening photography, but it can be inconvenient to locate oneself several miles up a trail or in the wilderness in low or fading light.

Recently my wife and I took our 4 dogs for a walk along the Baker River Trail. The trailhead is about 2.5 hours from our home. We arrived in late morning and returned mid afternoon. The only option I had for photography was during bright midday light. The sky was nearly cloudless. It was a beautiful day for a walk but less than ideal for photography. To record our trip I took several shots of the dogs and Deb as well as a few of the surrounding landscape. such as the image below.

The river was a crystal clear turquoise blue with some of the deeper pools taking on an emerald green tone. The river bottom and banks are lined with multicolored granite boulders. However, the bright sunlight washed out much of the colorful beauty and limited my ability to adequately capture the look and feel of the place. Back home in the computer, after doing a bit of standard processing to adjust white balance and tones, I played around with processing filters provided by my copy of Topaz Labs software and decided I liked the creation atop this page. Perhaps a less realistic look, but to me, a more realistic feel.

It's What You See

Backyard Thistle

Going to Seed

We are fortunate to have a bit of property around our home. Most of it is wooded and intensely overgrown second and third growth woods, largely comprised of Red Alder, Douglas Fir, and Hemlocks. There is a cleared section out back that I suspect was established by a previous owner to attract deer, for hunting purposes I suspect. On the periphery of the cleared area is a boundary zone consisting of brambles, nettles, and thistles. We typically take the dogs for a walk to this out back area twice a day.

In the spring we investigate and attempt to identify species of plants growing and blooming. During the summer months we pick blackberries. And with autumn beginning to emerge we are now noting what is going to seed. I have been observing various thistle blooms transforming themselves into explosions of downy seed bundles. Last evening I wandered back up with my camera and electronic flash to see what I could capture.

I mounted the flash on a stand so I could position it at various angles and heights relative to the camera's position. The flash was synced to the camera via a pair of remotes and through trial, and a lot of error, I decided postponing the flash at about the same height and at a right angle to the camera's view presented an appealing perspective. I then made several exposures while adjusting the intensity of the flash's output. To capture this image I used a 16mm prime lens on my Fuji X-T2 set to ISO 200 with a shutter speed of 1/200 sec and aperture of f/14. Larger apertures did not allow for the depth of field I was looking for. To process the image I first made basic adjustments in Lightroom then further refined the image in Photoshop using Nik plugins to reduce noise and improve color tones. But the real magic with this image occurred when I processed it using a set of Topaz filters; thankfully many of the settings employed were provided as suggested presets. 

Thoreau is quoted as saying, "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." The more time I spend capturing images, and especially trying to create a photograph that is representative of what I feel, the more I find I am able to see. 

Artistic License

When is a photograph not a photograph?

I have no plans to answer that question, nor do I have any inkling as to how one might do so. I'm not a professional photographer. I've not studied art. I barely know how to use the post-processing software (Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop) I use to process images I take with my Fuji X-T2 mirrorless camera. I have taken 15,000 images over the past 5 years, of these I would say I am proud of a dozen or so photographs. I know what I like. But what I like is continually changing.

A few years ago I was enamored with panoramic photos. I have also gone through several waterfall phases. Living where I used to (the mountains of West Virginia) I chased colors in the fall and thought they were marvelous, until I fell in love with the soft pastels of springtime. I guess you could say I'm fickle.

Most recently I have been messing around with a piece of software produced by Topaz Labs.  It allows me to create "photos" with a more painted-like (painterly) quality. Case in point the images in this post. Awhile back I went for a hike in the noontime sun, a horrible time to take pictures. Harsh contrasts. Overblown highlights. Muted colors. I took the color picture above to capture an image of the bright white peak on the horizon that I was pretty sure was Glacier Peak in the eastern Cascades. The noontime sun and haze washed out its details so I tried processing the image as a black & white photo. Better I thought. Then I transformed it using some of the Topaz software. Realistic? Not quite. Representative of what I saw? Absolutely. The painterly version is more representative of my memory from that day than either of the other two photos. So when is a photograph not a photograph?

Honestly, I don't know or care. But I do know I like the top image - at least for now.

Now You See It - Now You Don't.

Admiralty Lighthouse, Whidbey Island, WA.

It's all a matter of perspective.

The Park Service and the lighthouse organization that manages and cares for this structure does an outstanding job. It offers tours on a daily basis and the staff is friendly, knowledgeable, and courteous. The lighthouse appears to be well-maintained and presents itself as a favorable subject for photography, with one exception. Scattered around the grounds close to the structure are a collection picnic tables. The tables do not lend themselves to any desirable photographic composition.

While waiting for sunset I evaluated a number of prospective locations from which to capture an image. A few locations minimized the presence of the tables, and I figured with some effort and Photoshop's help I could eliminate them from the final photo. As I explored different vantage points I became aware that if I shot from ground level atop the hill alongside the house I could avoid including the tables. Only problem, to include a sizable portion of sky at this low angle the lighthouse appeared to tilt and recede into the frame. There are ways to correct this situation during post processing but I decided on a more traditional approach, use of a tilt/shift lens.

Through the use of a tilt/shift lens one can adjust for such artifacts in perspective. The low to the ground perspective also offered the opportunity to eliminate a good bit of foreground which lacked any pleasing characteristics. The photo presented is an assembly of 3 images taken with a Fuji X-T2 camera mounted on a Benro tripod using a 20mm lens tilted upwards from vertical and shifted along the horizontal axis. Images were initially assembled and processed in Adobe Lightroom and further modified in Photoshop, largely using Nik plug-in filters to reduce noise and enhance tonal ranges. A final bit of editing was done using Topaz software to accentuate the soft glow on the horizon.

Environmentally Friendly Timbering

Deception Pass Bridge - final edit

Deception Pass Bridge - original file

No trees were harmed in the making of this photograph.

Wandering about on Pass Island at Deception Pass State Park one foggy morning I came upon this pleasing scene. The presence of the bridge was softly disguised by fog streaming through the pass. The morning sun (behind me) was starting to burn through creating pleasing tones. Only problem, from this vantage point a tree was in the way. I tried to position myself differently to minimize or eliminate the presence of the tree but couldn't find anything I liked, so I captured a few images anyway.

Back home I found I had a number of pleasing other images from the morning, but the presence of the tree in this shot bugged me. I wanted the bridge to be the subject of the photo, but the tree front-and-center was a distraction. I was about to skip further processing when I decided to give a little electronic tree trimming a try. Being not the most skilled with Photoshop my digital arborist skills proved to be pedestrian at best, but I judged the end result acceptable; at least as a first try.

So, is this sort of manipulation honest, or not? Debatable for sure. But not debatable is the benefit of electronic timbering, at least in a location as beautiful as Deception Pass, over the real thing.  For the record, this image was captured with a Fuji X-T2 using a 16mm prime lens at f/11, 1/200sec exposure at ISO 200 and processed using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop using Nik plug-ins to reduce noise and enhance color tones.