Sunset, Mt. Shuksan and Picture Lake

Sunset, Mt. Shuksan and Picture Lake. Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. August 28, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell - all rights reserved.

Sunset on cloud-shrouded summit of Mt. Shuksan with Picture Lake in the foreground, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington. (original upload file)

Icon alert! I understand that photographing Mt. Shuksan from this locale is, in the Pacific Northwest context, perhaps almost equivalent to photographing the Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands or photographing Yosemite Valley from Tunnel View. As a brand new photographer of Cascades Range subjects, I plead guilty to succumbing to this icon and photographing it. (I'm told that the only thing that this photograph needs in order to qualify for full "yet another photo of an icon status" would be to come back in a month and shoot it when the fall colors appear.)

My brother and I had been up higher photographing the Artist Point area for most of the afternoon, and he suggested that since we were here we might stop at Picture Lake on the way back down the mountain and see what might develop. I'm glad he did since, icon status aside, this really is a stunning and beautiful location and it was a quiet and beautiful evening. Several things made it special, I think. First, while the summit of Shuksan never fully cleared, the clouds shrouding the summit gave it a more dramatic aspect than might have been the case with an unobstructed view. Second, much to our surprise, we were not joined by a throng of other photographers. At first we were the only ones there, and later we only saw a few others in the area.

This was a technically challenging scene to photograph. The lake and foreground trees were in shadow at this point, though on the scene one could still see the details of the forest along and beyond the far shore. Yet the summit of Shuksan and the clouds were in full sun, and making this even more difficult, the red sunset light was extra intense. The eye can take all of this in without a problem as you move your focus from foreground to distant peak, but the camera is not as capable - and the dynamic range of the scene dramatically exceeds the capabilities of cameras. So, again, this photograph is a composite of three exposures manually blended in post to combine the best exposures of bright and saturated highlights with the best exposure of the dark forest along the shore of the lake.

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Twitter | Friendfeed | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Email

Taken on: September 3, 2010

Tags:

picture

mount

baker

snoqualmie

national

forest

washington

usa

north america

wilderness

landscape

alpine

mountains

ridge

fog

clouds

shroud

sunset

twilight

evening

light

snow

field

glacier

rock

reflection

lake

water

grass

quiet

trees

silhouette

cascades

range

north

scenic

travel

nature

summer

stock

induro « less

Sets appears in: • Cascades • Pacific Northwest more » • Nature « less

Groups appears in: • Alpine Lakes and Meadows • Professional landscapes more » • Landscape photography • Outdoor Photographer Magazine (Unofficial) • North Cascades • Silicon Valley Photographers • SF Bay Area Shooters (sfbas) • Mountains and alpine • Mountain Scenes • The Cascades • Washington State Outdoors - NO HAND OF MAN! • nature and landscape photography • Mount Shuksan, The Best of • Beautiful Mother Nature • Scenic Areas or Photos in Rural Areas • Mt. Baker Snoqualmie and Wenatchee National Forest • Love of the Great Outdoors • Nature's Call. • America's Best Landscapes • *Earth's Natural Photography* • Exquisite LIGHTSCAPES (Invite other if you like) • F-Stop - Nature, Landscape & Wildlife « less

Stats: 2,548 views / 17 comments