Rocky - a dozen of my best from 2009

[squirl033]

well, what the heck... i'll jump in here with a few of my faves from the past year - in no particular order, of course...

got this cooperative cedar waxwing while shooting white-water rafters along the Wenatchee River near Leavenworth last summer... 40D, 100-400L @ 400mm, 1/500 @ f/8

i like this one just because, well, it's damned difficult to catch one of these little fellas in mid-air, and i was rather pleased at how well this one came out! 40D, 100-400L @ 400mm, 1/800 @ f/7.1

a late summer shot of one of my favorite spots... Mt. Shuksan, viewed across the mirror-calm water of Picture Lake. 5D, 24-135 @ 39mm, 1/60 @ f/8. this is a 3-shot composite stitched into a 24Mp image using ArcSoft PanoramaMaker 3, then processed in HDR with Photomatix Pro 3 to bring out the details in the treeline across the lake...

"Falling Water" - a small stream cascades over rocks along Gale Creek near Lake Kachess. the vine maple leaf adds a splash of color... 40D, 24-135 @ 77mm, 1/320 @ f/7.1...

a recent shot, from Dec. 27th... Mt. Shuksan again, this time without the lake, and covered in a deep mantle of snow... spectacular any time of year! shot in color, converted to B&W. 5D, 24-135 @ 74mm with polarizer, 1/15 sec @ f/11...

a spectacular summer sunset at Second Beach on the Washington coast... 5D, 24-135 @ 37mm, 1.3 sec @ f/13...

Snoqualmie Falls is a favorite spot, and if you can get down on the beach along the river, you can get some very nice photos. this one is especially nice - and difficult to get - with not one, but two rainbows! 5D, 24-135 @ 24mm, 1/200 @ f/11...

part of a sequence of 15 images capturing this heron's successful "belly-flop" fishing efforts... i'd never seen a heron actually dive into the water from mid-air before, but caught this one in action from about 30 feet away. 40D, 100-400L @ 130mm, 1/1250 @ f/7.1....

another birdie... this little barn swallow didn't seem to mind me being so close - i was less than 8 feet away - but he did seem to think i was going to feed him! 40D, 100-400L @ 400mm, 1/1250 @ f/8...

Ruby Beach is one of my favorite spots, though with the recent rearranging of the landscape by a winter storm in November, it's a bit less scenic and harder to get to some of the best spots, including where i stood to take this shot... 5D, 24-135 @ 31mm, 2 sec @ f/13...

"Tranquility" - or at least part of it, anyway. that's the title of a 3-pc set of images taken along Lewis Creek just outside Index, in the foothills off Highway 2. i had these done on gallery-wrapped canvas, to make a nice little set that would look really fabulous arranged diagonally on a staircase, or just clustered on a wall... taken with my 5D and 24-135 @ 64mm, .6 sec @ f/13...

not a particularly excellent photo from a technical standpoint, but i found it amusing nonetheless... at first glance, it looks like something horribly gruesome has happened to this poor sapsucker, but in reality, he's merely got his head bent round behind him while preening... 40D, 100-400L @ 400mm, 1/800 @ f/8...

 

[BobH]

Well, we certainly got this topic off to a great start, thank you Rocky! What a fantastic collection of images. They're all amazing, and the Shuskan shot definitely has me planning a trip to that location. However, of them all, I'd say I like the "Tranquility" shot the best!


Gee, I thought some of my stuff looked pretty good, until I saw these... Guess I'll try harder next year!

 

[Leia]

Oooops! Rocky beat us to the site theme for next week. LOL! We still need to start a offficial year end thread though, right Bob????


Great shots, Rocky. You had a great year for sure!

 

[NinaS]

all are awesome, my fav is the picture lake, stunning ... I have a similar one of Mt Hood & Trillium Lake somewhere LOL

 

[Leia]

My fave has to be the long exposure sunset beach shot.

 

[BobH]

Leia, after thinking it over, I went slightly different and created a whole category. A single thread would quickly get huge and unwieldy, and limiting contributions to just one week, especialling during the holiday seasons, would make it difficult for some folks to participate. So I think this idea will make it easier for everyone.

See my other post in this category for more info: http://www.pnwphotos.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1228

 

[JLMCPICS]

Rocky you have a gift! These are great images! Being a newcomer to the area I enjoy seeing what I have to look forward to. Keep up the great work...and please keep posting!

 

[JaniceL]

Great shots Rocky especially the bird shots. For the humor catagory I place my vote for that poor sap . . . uhhh . . . I mean sapsucker

 

[squirl033]

i decided i liked the B&W version of Shuksan in winter better - has a bit of an "Ansel Adams" feel to it - so i replaced the color one...

 

[Steve Carter]

That's a wonderful collection Rocky!

Hard to pick a favorite, but I'd guess it might be Mt. Shuksan.

Where is Picture Lake!

 

[squirl033]

That's a wonderful collection Rocky!

Hard to pick a favorite, but I'd guess it might be Mt. Shuksan.

Where is Picture Lake!

thanks, Steve... Picture Lake is just down the hill from the Mt. Baker ski area. follow SR542 east out of Bellingham till you can't go any farther, and you're pretty much there. you actually have to drive around the lake to get to the parking lot and lifts. in winter, of course, it's frozen over and covered with snow, but in summer and early fall, it can offer the most amazing reflections... there's a paved path around the lake, and there are platforms built out to the water's edge, just for photographers.

 

[BobH]

Just look for all the cameras! There are some claims it's one of the most photographed mountains, and it certainly is very popular. On the other hand, I have to think some of the peaks at Yosemite would also have a good claim.

 

[squirl033]

Just look for all the cameras! There are some claims it's one of the most photographed mountains, and it certainly is very popular. On the other hand, I have to think some of the peaks at Yosemite would also have a good claim.

i've heard Shuksan is the most photographed peak in the country. hard to say, but i know it's easier to get to than a lot of others, and with that lake, it makes a much more photogenic scene...

 

[BobH]

Rocky, I've heard that claim in several places, but I don't think it's correct.

I think what it should say is that "It's the most photographed peak in the North Cascades" That would make a lot more sense for a couple reasons.

First of all, that road is closed for over half the year, and even when it's open it doesn't get near the traffic that places like Yosemite get. That's why I'm going to guess that somewhere like Half Dome gets the nod for "Most Photographed".

Also, what does the term really mean? Do all the snapshots of Rainier from places like Seattle count? If so, then obviously it's high up there in the rankings.

Errors like this happen all the time. Mt Rainier Scenic Railroad recently restored a Willamette Geared Locomotive, an unusual type of logging locomotive. It's the only one of it's kind in the world that's in operation.

So, we told the Tacoma New Tribune "We have the only operable Willamette Geared Locomotive". The editor dropped the word Willamette, and ran it as "MRSR has the only operable geared locomotive". Losing that one word made a huge difference. There are quite a few operable geared locomotives, in fact we had a second one coupled up to the Willamette. It's just that none of them are made by Willamette.

My guess is that the claim started as "In the North Cascades" but that part was forgotten as folks repeated it.

 

[squirl033]

yeah, you're probably right. though you can get up there year round... only the road to Artist Point is closed. you can shoot Shuksan all day long from the Mt. Baker ski area...

 

[Brianjbean]

I love your shuksan photo. that thing just jumps right off the screen!