Here are 3 photographs from a recent effort I made to deal with some of my post processing backlog. These photographs were made in 2017 and 2019, but sometimes a few images are left behind while I ponder post processing decisions or other selection issues. In my latest attack on the backlog I published over 70 new photographs, some which can be seen in my New Images gallery.
Mount Baker (Kulshan) in Washington State’s Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
I posted a similar photograph near this location back in 2017 when I last made a trip to the Mount Baker area. For some reason, at the time, I found the photograph below to have some post processing challenges. There is a lot of dynamic range here (range from light to dark) which was part of the issue. I’ve learned a few things about processing images from my then new camera (shadow recovery mostly) in ways that were not possible with my previous one – and this is the result. This photograph of Kulshan at sunset was made from a trail on Kulshan Ridge at Huntoon Point in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.
Mount Baker/Kulshan at sunset from Huntoon Point (Purchase)
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Hovering Over Salmon
I have photographed Bald Eagles in the Fraser Valley many times over the years. I usually make a trip to the area near the Harrison River in or around the Fraser Valley Bald Eagle Festival when the salmon are spawning and the eagles are gathered. This particular eagle was hovering in place over some spawning salmon likely looking for a good candidate for lunch. There can be thousands of eagles in this area as the salmon spawn and expire – and are then quickly recycled. This photograph was originally shot in a landscape format, but it had a bit too much of “nothing” on either side of the eagle. So with this one I cropped to a portrait orientation and I think it is a better image for it.
Bald Eagle (H. leucocephalus) hovering over spawning salmon (Purchase)
White Rock Fireworks at the Canada 150th Celebration
Earlier on this day I photographed the Canadian Forces Snowbirds during White Rock’s Canada 150 Celebrations in the summer of 2017. I went back down to the beach for the fireworks display, but decided that trying to get onto the pier would be an exercise in crowds that I wouldn’t enjoy, and would likely be too close to the fireworks anyway. Ultimately I was slightly too far away, but I didn’t have to deal with elbow to elbow crowds at least! I had not photographed fireworks since roughly 2002 so this was a good chance to give it another shot. The post processing decision I had to make here was how to crop the photograph (200mm wasn’t quite long enough). I often keep the same aspect ratio to my crops, but in this case a square crop worked better for the shape of the fireworks and the overall scene. The size of these is pretty impressive – as you can tell from a 100% crop of just the people on the pier. I went back a few years later and watched a display from up on the hill right above where they launched and it was a bit too much like being in the middle of them. Too close, too bright, too large, and the shock waves went right through me. If I’d had my camera my 17mm wouldn’t have been wide enough! Next time I’ll be back where I shot the photo below, only with a longer lens!
Fireworks Display over White Rock Pier during Canada 150 (Purchase)
You can see more of my newly published images in the New Images and other galleries in my Image Library.
Sunset light on Mount Shuksan reflected in the tarn at Huntoon Point in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie Forest, Washington State, USA.
Reflection of Mount Shuksan in a Huntoon Point Tarn (Purchase)
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I’ve written and posted about this iconic location many times, as it is one of my favourites to visit in the early fall – the Mount Shuksan/Mount Baker area in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest of Washington State. The location in this first photograph is often photographed, but not nearly to the extent of the Picture Lake area nearby. There isn’t really a lot of things I can say about my trip here in the fall of 2017. I had good conditions, great light, and was planning on going back 4 days later. Unfortunately, there was about 30cm of new snow 4 days later, and the road to Artist Point was closed, so those ideas will have to wait until later in 2018. I am happy with my photos from the one day I had, but they don’t lend themselves to discussion as well as some of the bad photographer behaviour I witnessed while up there. So lets get into some of that – I feel I need to purge these stories from my brain from time to time for my own health. I’m sure these won’t surprise you much, especially if you’ve photographed at popular, iconic locations before.
Most photographers reading this have probably seen others behave poorly while photographing the same locations. A few of these, I’m sure, are just awful people no matter what activity they are doing. I suspect others are just putting way too much pressure on themselves to copy exactly what they saw online or in a magazine. Generally I’ve seen most of the bad behaviour at an “iconic” location, or near one. Most of these locations can deliver a wide variety of weather conditions, seasonal changes and other variable that can making matching that magazine photo you have in your pocket… difficult. If that trophy is all you are there for, then you are probably going to have far less fun that I would. Some of the people having a bad time of it feel generous enough to make sure everyone around them feels the same way.
One example of poor behaviour I witnessed was at the location of the first photograph here – the tarn at Huntoon Point. This is a relatively common spot to photograph, though I’ve never seen lineups here like I have at Picture Lake. When I was here a few years ago, there was a man standing further up on the hill occasionally tossing pebbles into the tarn in order to ruin the reflection for others. He seemed much more pleased about this than the other’s photographing there at the time. I can only guess he had his photo and was thinking that his work would some how be more unique if nobody else could shoot there the rest of the evening. If I’d been trying to actually get a shot there I’d just have wandered away rather than engage with him verbally. This is a location with great 360° views, so it isn’t as though there is a shortage of subjects in the area. Actually, to avoid a photographer like that I might have wandered to a nearby spot and shot the second photograph in this post – a view of Mount Shuksan with some great sunset clouds above it, and hints of fall foliage below. Last fall I photographed both of these scenes within 5 minutes of each other, and without a pebble tosser to move me on.
Sunset over Shuksan Arm and Mount Sefrit (Purchase)
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Anyone who has been to Artist Point and looked towards Mount Shuksan from there has likely seen the tarn just to the east of the parking lot. The trail along the ridge runs right past it. Last fall this was the scene of one of the worst bad photographer behaviour spectacles I’ve ever seen – mostly because it went on for over an hour. Initially I didn’t know a photographer was involved. There was a family walking through (and playing in) the tarn near Artist Point with loud music blaring from a stereo. Beach balls and other props (I presume) were floating around in the tarn. A number of people stopped, jaws open, and stared at these people. Most did not say anything, but some went over and there were raised voices and wild pointing at the various transgressions. None of this made any difference. Then it became clear that the individual who was addressing the concerns of passing hikers was a photographer, there to do some sort of family photo shoot.
When she started shooting she got the family into one spot, then was yelling at the top of her lungs things like “wow this is the worlds most photogenic family”, “that is just adorbs”, “yeah baby!” and other antics that would have embarrassed even Austin Powers. I suspect some of the over the top vocalizations were to mock those who had dared suggest this was bad behaviour, or at least that is the only “excuse” I can see for it. After this debacle really ramped up a few more people then went over and asked her to turn the music off, as well as get back on a trail (I’d have been fine with them just sticking to the rocks). One old man, who looked like he wasn’t one to swear yelled, in apparent exasperation – “What the **** are you doing!?” loudly at her. People were stopped in groups and clearly talking about them. None of this changed the behaviour. The family itself didn’t seem to act like anything weird was going on. One woman I talked to said she was going to say something (I hadn’t, having witnessed the futility of others who had tried). I suggested she go and get a business card under the guise of wanting portraits of her family. This was an idea I couldn’t easily pull off with a backpack and tripod of my own. Not sure if she did that, but I almost wish I’d tried so I could mention her here, possibly. All that aside, I went further up the trail and had a wonderful time once I was out of earshot.
Sunset at Mount Shuksan and Picture Lake (Purchase)
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The above photo is the iconic spot where Mount Shuksan can give a great reflection in Picture Lake. I have stopped photographing here for the most part, but always stop and take a look, as it is a very nice view. I also enjoy the occasional shock and surprise when asked why I’m not taking my gear out of the bag. One of the reasons I don’t linger in this location tends to be the behaviour of other people, though most of those seem to be photographers. The tourists walk on the boardwalk, enjoy the view, and don’t seem to do much inappropriate for the most part. If you look at the photo above you can see on the far left the road is right next to the lake. Remember that the next time someone describes the arduous hike to this location!
The crappy behaviour I’ve seen at Picture Lake includes:
• Yelling at people parking along the roadside I mentioned above. One photographer abandoned his equipment entirely and ran towards some tourists screaming about where they had parked. The poor tourists got back in their car and fled the area. Yes, cars can kind of get in the way here, but it is also easy to change the composition slightly so they aren’t an issue.
• Photographers standing in a clearly marked “meadow under repair” off the boardwalk area – harassing others because they shoot the wrong brand of camera. “That’s how I know your photos are going to be garbage”. Like an internet conversation but in person, which is much, much worse. I wouldn’t say I appreciate this kind of “Gear Preaching” when I see it online, but at least I have something worse to compare it to now.
• In a different people and a different year entirely – but the pebble tossers have visited at this location too. Photographers throwing rocks periodically into the water in order to keep the reflection messed up, which is a pretty messed up thing to do.
• Photographer holding up a magazine with a photo of Shuksan and Picture Lake trying to match the shot. Again, in the closed “don’t step here” area.
• This last one was someone who was trying to be nice, but it is still a silly thing to do. I guess they thought I didn’t know what I was doing so they tried to stop me from shooting in a vertical orientation. “Oh no no wait… (comes jogging over to me)… this is a horizontal shot”. Had I been in a more surly mood I probably wouldn’t have just pointed out that I always tend to shoot both orientations. The vertical shot from that day is only one of two photos of Picture Lake I have ever sold. It didn’t work nearly as well in a wider format, actually.
Glad I got all that off my chest. We now continue our regular programming…
Sunset light in the clouds above Mount Baker – photographed from Huntoon Point, Washington State.
Mount Baker and Fall Foliage at Huntoon Point (Purchase)
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As I have indicated in other posts, fall is the time of year I usually visit the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington State. I usually photograph Mount Baker, Mount Shuksan, and the other North Cascade peaks and ranges in the area. Sometimes I am there along with some great fall foliage as well, though it has a much different look than near sea level. Where I live this leaf color is usually dominated by Bigleaf Maples, Vine Maples, and a few other species. Up in the mountains near Mount Baker, much of the color comes from smaller trees and shrubs such as the Vaccinium species (Blueberries / Huckleberries etc) and Sitka Mountain Ash (Sorbus sitchensis) as shown in the first photograph here. There is always a lot to photograph in the area between Picture Lake, the Chain Lakes, and Huntoon Point on Kulshan Ridge, even if there isn’t a nice sunset. One of my favourite spots and I always find new compositions when I am there.
When there is a nice sunset sometimes it can be difficult to photograph Mount Baker in that light. From this area you are looking southwest towards Mt. Baker. This can be problematic if the clouds aren’t cooperating in lessening the bright to dark one finds in looking from west to east across that view. Luckily there was some thin cloud cover in most of the sky, but not far to the west where the sun was free to shine through. These were near perfect conditions for sunset there, which I have not seen before myself. There was even some great light over the mountains to the north (the Border Peaks, for example) as well as above Mount Shuksan to the east.
Two hikers make their way up the Chain Lakes Trail to the Heather Meadows parking lot in the Bagley Lakes/Heather Meadows area of Washington State, USA.
Two Hikers on the Chain Lakes Trail by Bagley Lakes (Purchase)
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Almost every year I make a trip to the Mount Baker area to photograph during the fall season. At this time of year almost all of the snow has melted, the summer heat is gone as have the bugs that often come with it. Heather Meadows is one of the areas I always walk through and photograph. I stop and look at the wonderful view from Picture Lake, but I rarely photograph there. In recent years the behaviour of other photographers has helped me move on quickly
The first photograph above shows two hikers heading up to the parking lot on the Chain Lakes Trail. The section of the Chain Lakes Trail by Bagley Lakes is one of the trails I frequent with many great views of the lakes and surrounding mountains. One of the difficulties of completing the Chain Lakes Trail in its entirety is where to park your vehicle. If you part at Artist Point, when you get the the area photographed here you still have a 250 meter (820 feet) elevation climb to the parking lot. If you park here at Heather Meadows, you start with that climb. Wishing to avoid that, many park at Artist Point but ask for a ride from those visiting the lower parking lot. I gave the first gentleman in this photograph a ride to his truck so he could drive back down and pick up his hiking companion at Heather Meadows. There was a small lineup of families and individual hikers wanting the same. I’m sure some were out of luck and had to make the climb back to the car.
The second photo was made from the Fire and Ice Trail which has a nice lookout over Bagley Lakes. This was the spot I made one of my favourite panorama photographs and this time made a few photographs of the colour in the water, fall foliage on the side of Mount Herman, and the peak near Herman Saddle. I’ve made the hike to the saddle before, and hope to do it again in the coming years when I have time. The view from up there is pretty awesome!
Late blooming Subalpine Aster (Eurybia merita) (Purchase)
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One of the things I was not expecting along the various trails were some late blooming Subalpine Aster (Eurybia merita) flowers. This was fairly late in the fall season (at this elevation) and I had figured that any wildflowers would have been long gone. Perhaps this spot had much more snow to melt during the summer and consequently the flowers here were a bit behind the others in the area. I had planned on heading back to Artist Point and Heather Meadows the next week. Seasons change quickly in the mountains and this area had so much snow just a few days after my visit they closed to road to Artist point. I’m lucky I made it up there when I did, but I guess other opportunities for hiking there will have to wait until next July/August at the earliest.
View from Mt. Erie (on Fidalgo Island, Washington State, USA) of the Straight of Juan de Fuca, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (Ault field), and the Olympic Mountains.
View from Mt. Erie on Fidalgo Island (Anacortes) (Purchase)
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Last fall I drove down to Washington State to visit Blaine, Anacortes and a few other spots along the way. My last stop was Mt. Erie Park in Anacortes, and I am glad that I wound up there at the end of the day. I wrote a bit more about that trip in a previous blog post which explains why I stopped at Mt. Erie Park and photographed the moonrise and the North Cascade Range as well as some nice sunset light on Mount Rainier. While I made them on the same evening, the photos here show a different view – looking south towards Whidbey Island.
The photograph above shows the view from Mt. Erie looking south towards Whidbey Island. The cluster of buildings in the lower left corner is Ault Field which is part of Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. The body of water is the Strait of Juan de Fuca with the Olympic Mountains beyond.
Rodger Bluff and Lake Campbell on Fidalgo Island (Anacortes) (Purchase)
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Looking down from Mt. Erie you see a lot of farmland, islands, lakes and ocean. The most prominent and closest lake is Lake Campbell and I liked the view of the lily pads and other foliage growing at the west end of the lake next to Rodger Bluff. Pass lake is the lake you can see a bit further in the background. The panorama below shows a wide view looking to the south from Mt. Erie. In that photo you can see many of the locations I’ve mentioned above as well as Similk Bay and Mount Rainier (center).
View of Whidbey Island and the Olympic Mountains (Purchase)
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For more photography from the Washington State area visit the 7 galleries in my Washington State Collection.
The Peace Arch as photographed from Peace Arch State Park in Blaine, Washington State, USA looking towards Peace Arch Provincial Park in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
Peace Arch Border Crossing Looking Towards Canada (Purchase)
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One of the first outings I made with my new camera was to the White Rock Pier but earlier that day I visited Peace Arch Provincial Park and Peace Arch State Park in British Columbia and Washington State. Parking in the provincial park lot, I walked across the road to photograph the Peace Arch monument and gardens. I’d tried this before a few years ago but there was so much of that orange snow fencing everywhere (lawn was under repair) that working around it for good photographs was not something I ended up attempting. Now there is a perfect lawn and no fencing in sight so it was a great time to revisit this location.
Peace Arch Provincial Park Looking Towards USA (Purchase)
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The Peace Arch is a monument completed in 1921 to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the Treaty of Ghent. This treaty ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. The Canadian and American flags fly on top, with the Canadian side (second photo above ) reading “Brethren Dwelling Together In Unity” and the American side (first photo above) reading “Children Of A Common Mother”. When walking through the arch you can read the words “1814 Open One Hundred Years 1914” and “May These Gates Never Be Closed” on the interior sides. The monument straddles the United States and Canadian border which feels a bit strange as you can just walk all around it. I tend to take my passport with me here, but apparently that isn’t really necessary. Both Peace Arch Provincial Park and Peace Arch State Park are situated between their respective border checkpoints, so you haven’t really crossed the border in an official sense by entering the parks.
Both parks have some gardens planted for visitors, though I’ve found much of the time some of these are empty of plants for some reason. The photograph above shows the pond and gazebo (made from many different species of BC wood) on the Canadian side in Peace Arch Provincial Park.
The last photograph here is from last year when I made a trip down the Washington coast towards Anacortes. On the way I stopped at Blaine Marine Park in Blaine to see the view of White Rock and photographed the arch from that perspective. You can see the Canadian border crossing (officially the Douglas Border Crossing) beyond the arch.
The moon rises over North Cascades mountain peaks just after sunset. Photographed from the top of Mt. Erie Park in Anacortes, Washington State, USA.
Moonrise over the North Cascades from Mt. Erie Park (Purchase)
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In September I went on a day trip across the border into Blaine, Washington and eventually ended up at Mt. Erie Park in Anacortes on Fidalgo Island. The plan had been to follow the coast and hit a lot of different spots on the way to Fidalgo Island and Anacortes with Mt. Erie Park being the last destination. It turned out this was a bit overly ambitions so when I arrived in Anacortes it was already early evening. I’ve learned from experience that when time gets short to have a plan for the final destination in place, and so after visiting Anacortes I drove up the narrow road to the top of Mt. Erie. This was a park that seemed like it had a decent chance at good views – and they turned out to be great views. This first panorama photograph here shows several peaks I photographed from the park – mainly (from L to R) Round Mountain, Mount Higgins, Glacier Peak, White Chuck Mountain, Whitehorse Mountain Three Fingers, and Liberty Mountain.
Moonrise over the North Cascades and Similk Bay from Mt. Erie (Purchase)
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I’d like to say I had planned my timing with this moon rise perfectly, but it was just a pleasant surprise. Many photographers determine sunrise and sunset paths before photographing an area but I don’t often do this – especially on a relatively unplanned day such as this one. There are plenty of great views from the top of Mount Erie – from Mount Baker and a number of other notable peaks in the North Cascades to the view south towards Whidbey Island, The Olympic Mountains and the Straight of Juan de Fuca. The three photos here show the view to the east and southeast of the North Cascades, and the farmland on the mainland.
Moonrise over the North Cascades in B&W (Purchase)
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I thought I’d try this last photograph in Black and White, and I think it works (more so with the enlarged view compared to this thumbnail). You can view the colour version for comparison. The peaks in this photograph include (L to R) Round Mountain, Mount Higgins, Skadulgwas Peak, White Chuck Mountain, Glacier Peak, Disappointment Peak and Whitehorse Mountain.
For more photographs from the North Cascades visit my North Cascades Gallery.
View of a Mount Rainier sunset (elevation 14409 ft / 4392 meters), Whidbey Island, and Similk Bay at sunset.
Mount Rainier at Sunset – from Mt. Erie in Anacortes (Purchase)
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In my Top Photos of 2016 post I showed a previously unpublished photograph of the moon rising over the North Cascades I made from Mt. Erie in Anacortes, Washington. The Mt. Erie Park viewpoint(s) offer great views in many directions of the surrounding countryside, mountains, coastlines and ocean. One of the sights I was not expecting up there was the rather decent view of a Mount Rainier sunset despite it being 188km (117 miles) to the south. I have made a number of trips to Mount Rainier National Park, and it remains one of my favourite places in Washington State. This view from Mt. Erie Park was quite welcome. I’ll be posting a few of the other photographs from my trip to Anacortes soon – mostly of the view from Mt. Erie in other directions.
