I have seen many photographers make a “Best of 2010” list recently, many of them stating how difficult it was to choose between their images. Sorting through my own list was also more difficult than I had imagined. I don’t know if these are my “Best” as that can be rather subjective, but these are my favourites taken in the past year.
Frequently when I go into Washington State and the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest I am in a rush to get either to Picture Lake or Artist Point and completely skip stopping at this view of Table Mountain. Someday I will manage to stop and savour this particular view but I am glad that this photo managed to capture some of the growing sunset in the sky.
For the past few years I find myself wishing that I’d spent more time in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest photographing the peaks in the Cascade Range. The classic/cliche Picture Lake is awesome and can yield interesting photographic moments almost every time but the wide range of possibilities from up at Artist Point make it more appealing to me. The trouble is the road remains snow covered until sometime in July (this year it opened on the 30th of July – a bit late). As the road closes with the first major snowfall, this year in late October – this isn’t a lot of time to enjoy it. I live only an hour away just north of the border in Canada but always seem to get caught doing other things. At this time of year I know I will be waiting at least 7 months until I can get back to Artist Point. Editing images like this always give me ideas as to what I want to do next time I am there… but so long to wait!
Another angle from the shots I took at Picture Lake taken during my last fall trip. I have taken many shots of this (and similar) spots but haven’t quite settled on being “done” with the area. Regardless, its close to home and I always have a good time shooting up there. Even more so during the few months of the year that Artist Point is open.
A shot from late in the summer. Sherman Peak sits on the side of Mt. Baker. This photo was taken from Artist Point on the same evening as this wider shot of Mt. Baker.
This place is likely one of the most scenic areas close to my home. I am fortunate to live within an hour (with an easy border crossing experience) of Artist Point. This image was taken a few weeks ago on the same day as my earlier Picture Lake post.
I have put together some of my favourite images made in the last year into this 11"x17" (28cm x 43cm) nature calendar. Included are 12 photographs of landscape and nature scenes from British Columbia, Québec, Ontario, and Washington State.
About Michael Russell Photography
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