Winning isn't Everything.

I love this image - it is one of my favorites, where all things came together to make beauty. I was on a backpack a couple of years ago with friends. We had set up camp in the Goat Rocks Wilderness of Washington, near the PCT and spent the early evening meandering the trails through the flower-filled meadows as the light faded around us. I had been hoping to get a low shot of flowers in foreground of a landscape with Mt Adams and as we explored, I noted a few nice clumps of Western Pasqueflower alongside the trail. As my friends headed back to camp I stopped at this little patch, but it was too close to the trail to get the image I had in my head . . . there was a ditch on the other side of the trail. Sure enough, lying in the ditch with my tripod made the camera angle low enough to capture the scene. A few hikers passed, at first startled by my seat in the ditch then appreciative of the scene I was capturing.

In the end I took 3 exposures to blend together and knew I had a good image. I entered it into a few photo contests - one a local photo club where it took top honors plus it was selected for their calendar. Another was for a web-based company where I again took top honors and a t-shirt. I also entered it into photo contests sponsored by the Mountaineers and the Washington Trail Association. My amazing image didn't even make the finalists of either contest. I wondered if they even got my submission.

A few months after I submitted the image to WTA, I got a call from a friend congratulating me on my image being published in their magazine. Really? I rushed out to get a copy and sure enough in the table of contents was my image, enticement to read further the article detailing the joys of hiking Pacific Crest Trail. Pretty darn snazzy, I thought. May not have won the photo contest, but this was a win no matter.

Then came the announcement a few months ago for the next Mountaineers Photo Contest. I didn't pay much attention to the announcement as the categories weren't anything I had readily available (ie, don't shoot a lot of). Then I hopped online to look for an outing or two and wait! What was that? That looked like my pic! I flipped back through the images on the main page and yep, that is my image. Title, credit, wow! Can you guess why they were using it? To advertise this year's photo contest! But my image never made the finalists. Wouldn't they want to use the winning image from last year? Nope, they wanted to use mine. Double win!

So for a little ditch-sitting, I got a calendar, a t-shirt, a magazine and advertisement. Yeah, I call that a good thing and my self-esteem takes a happy hit.

Playing by the Rules

The last weekend of June is spent on the border of Idaho and Montana, a special place in the world and US history - Lolo Pass. This is the place where Lewis & Clark crossed the Bitteroot Mountains. Here lie meadows filled with camas, meandering streams between forests of dark green seemingly at the top of the world. My organization sponsors a race on the forest roads behind the visitor center and I look forward to photographing the event every year. This year was no different I was even going to do a little backpacking on the way home, but snow levels on my intended route sent me home early.

So as I drove the Palouse in southeast Washington, I thought why not take my time heading home? Stop take some pictures. Afterall, I do have a new camera and I'm ready to make it pay for itself. I passed one picturesque barn because I needed to find the restroom. Passed another because it came & went before I had a chance to "see" it. Then along a stretch of highway I saw this little beauty. The clouds? Perfect. The greens? Perfect. The barn? Perfect. (Except a friend says it needs to be red - I like the grey.) I quickly pulled over, hopped out with my camera. The composition already in mind.

This scene is perfect for the Rule of Thirds where an image can be separated into a tic-tac-toe grid and the  important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. I knew I wanted the cloud-filled sky to dominate, so I placed the horizon line along the lower third of the frame. The face of the barn seemed to be looking left so I put it into the lower right corner so that it would "look" into the frame. I also had to be concerned where the peak of the roof fell - i didn't want it to intersect with the horizon - and wanted it to rise above the horizon to connect the sky & fields.

I only needed to shoot off one or two shots. I knew before I even lifted the camera to my eye that this would be a great image. Previsualize, and follow the rules at least until they need to be broken.

Seeing the Unexpected

I needed to go backpacking and had looked at a trip offered by the mountaineers but it was full with a wait list. The trip, Cape Alava, a favorite early season hike of mine, but I hadn't been on the trail for years. Then a few days before the group left, a spot opened up. I quickly grabbed the spot and was so happy to be getting out on a great weekend. Only one problem surfaced as I was heading to meet my carpool - I forgot my tent. UGH! It wouldn't be the 1st time I slept out under the stars on the beach but as the group pooled our equipment, we were able to come up with a plan that had me sleeping in a tent & not under the stars. Although the stars would be nice.

We started out in cloudy and a little drizzly weather, but we entered the old trees of the forest quickly and were protected from most of the wet. I do like hiking with groups especially when we can chat throughout the hike which makes the miles slip away. In no time we were hearing the waves along the beach and looked through the trees with anticipation. We set up camp in the trees and sat back to watch the tide recede to expose the rocks & tide pools.

Cape Alava is an interesting area of the coast. It's lined by rocks farther out from the beach, protecting the beach and the tide pools from crashing waves. When the tide is out, rocks and great varieties of seaweed are exposed. I can only imagine the forest of seaweed when the tide comes in. An underwater oasis for small fish and sea creatures. This area also lends itself nicely for calm reflections of the off shore sea stacks. But it wasn't reflections I was looking for as I meandered down the beach with my camera - I was looking for that sunset light and color.

And as it often happens along the coast, a bank of clouds rested upon the horizon obscuring the last light of the day. I continued to shoot even without the amazing colors. I have had sunset shoot like this before, no color, no drama yet came out with images I loved. Besides I wasn't ready to go back to camp even with the scent of campfire drifting down the beach.

I wandered out to a little spit of sand quickly being devoured by the incoming tide and saw what I had not seen before. Pastel colors reflected in the still water, a mirror image of the sea stack, the ripples of sand under the water. I was able to get off a couple of quick shot before the tide took over my viewpoint. What I came away with will again be one of my favorite images although not exactly what I was looking for.

Lake 22

Every now and then I have the opportunity to take someone onto a trail and help them gain a new experience and add to their self-confidence. A recent trip to Lake 22 gave me just this opportunity and a somewhat new hiker an experience that left her grinning at the end of the hike.

I warned my hikers on this trip that the last mile or so would be in snow, upwards to 8 feet in some places. But enough people hike this trail even in the snow that I thought it would be quite doable for my hikers. Little did I know, one hiker had no experience in snow. I advised trekking poles and traction devices like Yak-Traks or micro-spikes. I find the poles helpful in keeping my balance and the traction devices in keeping my self confidence. Sometimes I just need a little extra traction to feel comfortable on the snow and advised them for my hikers for this very reason.

As we reached the snow several hike members stopped to put on the traction. I and a few others opted out until we got further along. One hiker, Marie, didn't have traction devices and watched as her team mates prepped for the snow. Once ready, we started off again. The snow was hard-packed and I felt comfortable on it, but I noticed almost immediately Marie was falling behind. I stopped the group and we waited. But Marie continued to fall back and I began to get somewhat concerned. First for Marie, I didn't want her to get discouraged by her slow progress, but I also needed to keep my group moving so as to not get too cold.

I decided to get the rest of the group to the lake, settle them in and give them a few safety ground rules, then went back for Marie & my Tail-End-Charlie. Marie was indeed getting discouraged, but with encouraging words from myself & Jane, bringing up the rear, she plugged on. As we crested the last slope, I stopped Marie & told her to look up so she could see Mt Pilchuck towering through a break in the trees. Her face lit up!

We chatted a bit at lunch when she told me that this was the 2nd time she has ever hiked on the snow. I was so proud of her that she didn't give up and offered up my Yak-Traks since I wouldn't be needing them. She gladly accepted them. I then asked another of my hikers who had hiked with me often and is trusted to lead the group out as I brought up the rear behind Marie. We chatted & laughed until we ran out of snow. Her sense of accomplishment when we got back to the cars was priceless to me.

Daffodils

In April, the Skagit Valley is awash in color as tulips of every shape & color fill the perfectly tilled fields. But I was not here in April, I was here in March when the daffodils filled the valley with a yellow as vibrant as the sun. It was late in the day when my friends & I arrived as we headed to Mt Baker for a weekend of snowshoeing & photography. This side trip seemed like a perfect way to start off the weekend and take a break in our drive.

Late in the day, the sun angled nicely over the daffodil fields highlighting the rows of flowers. And yet in the background off towards the mountains storm clouds turned a dark grey in contrast.This is March in the northwest, bright afternoon light through cloud breaks we call sucker holes while the morning rain clouds push against the mountains dumping heavy spring snow on the slopes. This combination makes for a dramatic composition.

Squatting, I realized I couldn't quite get low enough to make the composition work as I had envisioned. I would have to lay in the mud. I am never opposed to lying down to get the image I see in my head, but now I had to look for an area with the least amount of gooey mud. Finally finding my spot, I angled the camera up to include the dark grey sky against the bright yellow flowers. The flowers seemed to be soaking in the last rays of sun for the day, happy that the storm had passed.

Lyle Cherry Orchards

The vision was in my head. I knew what I wanted in my photograph, but would I be able to catch it? I knew that from where I stood, the sunset would be truly amazing. The real question was did I have the fortitude to wait for it? One more frigid blast of wind gave me my answer - I would come back some other time.

I had climbed to the Lyle Cherry Orchards late in the afternoon with the plan of sitting & waiting for sunset after exploring the "orchards." Ok, there are really only about 3 cherry trees left of the century old orchard, but the views they have a stunning. High above the Columbia River looking east towards The Dalles, a homesteader with a great eye for the dramatic planted a cherry orchard. Today the homestead is nothing more than a clearing with a few trees left, the surrounding oak forest fast encroaching upon the scene. (OK, not that quickly, not as we would judge.)

I had picked the spot for my perfect sunset image. But I had misjudged both my time and my perseverance to endure the icy wind.. I tried, I really did. But that last blast shook the desire right out of me - I wanted something hot to eat & I wanted it now! Forget the sunset & forget hiking down in the dark. I rounded a switchback & stretched out before me was a golden light over the bench below, filtered by the clouds. I quickly shot a few images then continued my hike down towards hot food.

Maybe I didn't need to stay for sunset after all.

Waterfalls & Wildflowers

I needed a break. I had received some not so great news earlier in the week which could have restricted my ability to head out to the Columbia River Gorge. But I was not to be deterred. I had been looking forward to this trip for over a month and the journey had been close to cancelled several times. The first group I was to head out with changed to the weekend prior, but I was already booked to go to Mt Baker. The second group ended up cancelling on me as they needed to finalize a few things in town. Then I was hit with a financial restraint. But I wanted to head to the gorge and explore a few waterfalls and trails I had never been on. So I packed up my tent, my camera & my determination to not let bad news spoil my life and drove south.

There are two times of the year that I love the gorge - Spring & Fall. I'd love to head down when the waterfalls are frozen, but have yet to make the time. Fall is great as sunlight glitters through the golden leaves of maples & alders, their brilliant colors reflected in the tumbling streams and rippling pools near the waterfalls. Spring brings great sprays of power of waterfalls gushing over the cliffs and wildflowers. Two of my favorite things to photograph, moving water and colorful flowers. It would be a perfect destination for me.

I took no time after setting up my tent in Ainsworth State Park before I grabbed my camera, put on the diopter filter and began playing with the flowers surrounding my camp: bleeding hearts, trillium, herb robert, spring beauty. I even focused in on leaf & fern details. I just wanted to immerse myself in my photography, forget about my troubles for a few days. My camp neighbor invited me to share his campfire with himself & his 3 sons as night approached and I gladly accepted. As the night wore on, I began spilling my troubles to him and began to feel relieved and thought his presence in my life for this one evening was no accident. 

The next morning he & his boys broke camp while began my day of hiking. I decided to head out from Ainsworth and connect with the Gorge trail which would lead me past several waterfalls and into Oneonta Gorge to Triple Fall - my destination for the morning. I hiked through sweet green light of the sun streaming through the new spring growth of the trees covering me, trillium & calypso orchids glittered beside the trail like jewels. I first came to Ponytail Falls - a horsetail fall spraying out over columnar basalt. A cave behind the falls gave me an interesting perspective to photograph. Oneonta Falls & Triple Falls were next but the smaller falls along the trail were just as marvelous. I spent all morning and most of the afternoon hiking, photographing, and chatting with the other hikers. All of us in good company enjoying the beginnings of spring in this place, filled with waterfalls & wildflowers.