Heidi's Hotspots: Mt Rainier National Park: Summerland

I think Summerland will always hold a special place in my heart. When I first ventured off on hiking the Wonderland Trail, the 93 mile trail encircling Mt Rainier, I started at Summerland. My first solo backpack was to Summerland. Need a good hike on the east side of the mountain? Go to Summerland.

Summerland is a smallish meadow on the flanks of Mt Rainier. If you think of the meadows at Paradise or Spray Park, you might scoff at this little meadow. And for many day-hikers and climbers, Summerland is a only short respite on the way to bigger and more grand views. The 8 mile round trip can make this a respectable day hike and a destination of its own, so don't let it's size deter you from venturing here.

Come in the early morning if you can for better light. From the meadow, you will be looking west at the mountain and light can get fairly harsh later in the day. Or wait until the afternoon when the meadows are in shade for a softer light on the flowers. Better yet, try to snag a campsite and watch the mountain glow in the sunrise light. This is a popular hiking and camping destination so an early reservation may be in order for camping.

The meadow may be small, but the views packs a pretty nice punch. The trail follows Fryingpan Creek from the White River Road. After you cross the creek (about 3 miles in), you will travel through what I call the lower meadows - beautiful flowers all around and all the time in front of you, the glaciated flanks of Mt Rainier. Then some quick switchbacks through the woods and you will find your switchbacks lined with the flowers I call the middle meadows. These lead you into the meadows of Summerland.

Look out for marmots, bear and mountain goats while you're here. The marmots are not phased by the hikers and will often be seen nibbling the flowers at the side of the trail. Travel a little further along the trail past camp and across the stream, you will find a wilderness flower lined staircase built of mud, logs and stones that looks as if it were transplanted straight from Middle Earth.

If you love photographing wildflowers with critters in front of mountains, then Summerland is a place for you to discover and fall in love with on your own.

Yakima Sportsman, Washington State Park

Birds. Birds! BIRDS! This park is for the bird . . . watcher! And little wonder. Yakima Sportsman State Park is located in the flood plains of the Yakima River and contains ponds and marshes and all the things that birds love - like plenty of food, nesting, flying, paddling. Although this park rests in the suburbs of Yakima, it still has a sense of the wilderness. It's an oasis in an area known for its dry climate.

The Sportsman's Association of Yakima created this park to promote game management and preserve natural resources. The Association gifted the park to the State of Washington in 1956 and is now maintained as a camping park with fishing ponds, picnic shelters and trails plus lots of areas to bird-watch.

So what is there to photograph here? Well there's the birds. No matter what time of year you come to the park, you will find birds. As a wetlands area, it is a stop over for migrating birds, a breeding area for local birds and the ponds keep the air more temperate which attracts insects and the birds that eat them.

The ponds also lend themselves to photography. Even though there are homes right over the fence, they are well hidden by the woods that fill the boundaries. In fact, the only time I really ever notice homes is when I'm at the marsh overlook watching the Red Winged Blackbirds flit around the cattails. In fact, cattails abound here. Walk the trail around the kids' fishing pond and you will find cattail on one side of the trail and sage on the other. Talk about a variety for photography!

To get here: Drive to Yakima on I-82 and take the exit to Terrace Heights Way and turn East on Terrace Heights Way. Turn South onto University Pkwy then turn West onto Gun Club Rd to the park.

Come here for the birds, come here for the landscapes or come here for a relaxing weekend away. Yakima Sportsman will not disappoint.

Olmstead Place, Washington State Park

I really couldn't tell you how many times while driving through Ellensburg that I passed this little gem of a state park. I may have noticed the sign as I sped by at 70 miles per hour (ok, maybe a little more than that but don't want to incriminate myself), but couldn't say for certain. And if you've missed it as you were speeding down the interstate, slow down next time, pull off the highway and spend some time stretching your legs and your photographic eye. For photos are just waiting to be created here.

A little history: In 1875, the Olmsteads settled in the Kittitas Valley near a settlement that would become Ellensburg and began their lives as farmers in the territory of Washington. The family lived and worked the farm for nearly 100 years before gifting the farm to Washington State Parks and Recreation. Now visitors can wander through the 217 acre farm filled with farming implements, structures and history.

Also keep an eye on their schedule for special events and living history. I stopped by at the end of March to find a team plowing demonstration. Teams of draft horses and mules plowed the fields and their drivers stopped to pose for photos and answer questions. These days can be crowded but well worth the visit.

For your photographic pleasure, park at the main visitor center and park offices. The sheds here are filled with historic farm vehicles and tools, some more modern than others. There is a 1/4 mile trail along the Altapes Creek, lined with cottonwood trees and benches for quiet reflection in the shade. The trail leads to the original buildings of the homestead. Here you will find a treasure trove of antiques from the daily life of early pioneers.

Hours & Directions: The park is a day-use park and is open throughout the year, however tours are only available weekend from Memorial Day to Labor Day. To get there from I-90, take exit 115 for Kittitas and turn north on Main Street. Follow Main Street to Patrick Ave/Kittitas Highway. Follow Kittitas Hwy for approx 2 miles to N Ferguson Rd and turn left to the park.

Impress your Friends with a Telephoto Lens

There's a really crazy think that happens when you change the focal length of your lens. As a landscape photographer, I spend a lot of time photographing with an 18-70 mm lens. The lower numbers on a lens means it's "sees" a wider angle which makes for wonderful and interesting compositions in landscape photography - all those leading lines and beautiful foregrounds with majestic backgrounds. Wide angle lenses are a photographer's bread & butter.

But there are times when you should put the wide angle lens back in the bag.

In situations where your foreground is miles from your background for instance. Take a look at the photo above and the photo below, both taken from the same road. Notice a difference? I'm sure you do.

The top photo was created with a 100-300 mm telephoto zoom set at 300. The bottom photo was created with my old 18-70 mm workhorse.

So what creates the difference? Why do the mountains look so far away in the bottom photo but so close in the top one? It all has to do with the angle of view. 

A wide angle lens "sees" so much more of the environment. Your angle of view using a lens with a lower focal length is wide. As the focal length of your lens increases - 100 mm, 200 mm, 300 mm - the angle of view lessens and begins to compress the elements of the scene together.

So in the bottom photo, you can see all of the buildings on the farm, the field in the foreground and the mountains in the background miles away. In the top photo, the extra elements of the scene are remove - focused in on the important elements (barn & mountains) and because of the visual effect of the longer focal length lens, the mountains appear to be right behind the barn.

Here's a nice article with a few diagrams to explain this phenomenon in more detail.