mt. shuksan

Picture Lake and Mount Shuksan Sunset

Mount Shuksan’s reflection during Fall in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington State, USA

reflection of mount shuksan in the silhouette of picture lake

Mount Shuksan Sunset (Purchase)

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   This is one of my newly processed photos from Picture Lake in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest – featuring the iconic Mount Shuksan. In October 2011 I again photographed this location and now that I have my website gallery organized I have finished off the processing of images from that trip. This photo (and the horizontal version) has a bit of a different look to it than the others I processed from the same evening.

   More photos of Mount Shuksan and the surrounding area can be found in my Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Gallery.

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My 10 Best Photos of 2011

reflection of mount shuksan in the silhouette of picture lake
Mount Shuksan Alpenglow

   It is always tough to narrow down a years worth of images into a list of the “best”. I did this last year and I think it is a valuable exercise. Jim Goldstein of JMG Galleries creates a list of everyone’s top 10 images each year. I made my first top 10 last year. This years list has fewer landscape and more wildlife photos. This is partly due to my not getting out to shoot as many landscapes as last year, and partly due to my backlog in image editing.

   You can click on each of the following images to go to the blog post that may tell a bit more about the location and how I made the photograph.

In no particular order my “Best of 2011″…

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Nooksack River and Mount Shuksan

Mount Shuksan and the Nooksack River in the North Cascades, Washington State, USA

mount shuksan and nooksack river washington

Mount Shuksan and the Nooksack River (Purchase)

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   One of the downsides of having a lot of backlog in my photo editing is that I tend to forget what I have. I purposefully wait a while in order to process my images, just so that I am somewhat subjective in terms of images that deserve scrutiny and those that don’t. I often have initial expectations that were not met when I review the images too soon, and sometimes that clouds what is really there. At least for me. I do occasionally go back over images that did not leap out at me during a first pass – sometimes I find something I really like. Sometimes this is due to my perception of the image changing and sometimes I have learned some new post processing skills that open the photo to new potential.

   This photo is another example of this phenomenon. I initially passed over it but this weekend viewed it again, and knew how I wanted to process it. I have many photos of Mount Shuksan, but this one is a bit different. This was not taken from Picture Lake, Artist Point or any of my usual places. This is along the North Fork of the Nooksack River (which later flows over Nooksack Falls) at the bottom of the hill near the Shuksan Campground.

Huntoon Point & Mount Shuksan

A few “leftovers” from my trip to Mt. Baker back in October. I like these shots but never found the will to make dedicated posts about them. So here they are.

First I have always liked the angle of the Hwy 20 near Artist Point from this vantage point. The short hike to Huntoon Point from Artist Point has a few small tarns but I think this was a bit late in the year to have them full and capable of reflecting more of Mount Shuksan.

mount shuksan above sr 542 mt shuksan reflected in a tarn near artist point

mt shuksan reflected in a tarn near artist point canadian and american border peaks and mt larabee

Canadian Border Peak, American Border Peak, and Mt. Larrabee from Artist Point (above).

Finally, Mount Shuksan reflected in Picture Lake.

mt. shuksan reflected in picture lake

Picture Lake Fall Color

mt shuksan reflected in picture lake

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.

Mt. Shuksan from Artist Point

Mt. Shuksan in late evening light from Artist Point.

mt shuksan in late evening light from artist point

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.

Mt. Shuksan Reflected in Picture Lake

Mt. Shuksan reflected in Picture Lake.

mt shuksan reflected in picture lake

   I have previously photographed Mt. Shuksan and Picture Lake but last Wednesday I was fortunate enough to have a near perfect reflection in the lake. No wind, no breeze, no monsoon. I knew that Mt. Shuksan was one of the most photographed mountains in the world, but even still I did not anticipate a lineup for various favoured viewing spots. Lots of photographers to talk to is nice though, ignoring the one guy who was pointing out to all the Canon users that he shot Nikon and was therefore in some manner superior.