Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens - Lessons Learned

The few days Diane and I had at Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helen's were wonderful.  A lot of beautiful sites and moments as well as photos and relaxation.  Photography is the main reason sometimes for getting out and doing these trips, but the time with Diane is always the best reason.   Especially in these times where money is tight, and bills are not getting paid.  I'm sure you are all experiencing this in some way in today's economy.  Lessons learned...yes, you have to do things like this sometimes.  The ride to Portland, where we spent the first night was long.  Twelve hours!  We did have to stop a couple of times for pictures along the way, but kept them to a minimum.  One thing we did see on the road was a dirty truck with a window that couldn't be seen through.  It didn't say wash me like most of them do.  It did however, have a 3D word that I won't post.  Different though.  I did take a picture while my wife screamed, "not while your driving.  Couldn't resist.  We got as far as Umpqua River, where I thought I saw a waterfall.  I need a sign that says, I stop for waterfalls.  Missed the off ramp, darn it, but circled back around and found it to be a fish ladder.  Quite beautiful and sort of rustic looking.  Lesson learned: when photographing  falling water, don't try to over do it.  Use a slow shutter speed to give a motion look to the water, use a tripod.  If you are doing an HDR, use an aperture priority mode and bracket your shots.  DON"T try to do both.  Believe me it doesn't work. The blending of the images will give you somewhat of a water movement.  I prefer using a slow shutter speed in shutter priority mode.  This one however, is an HDR bracked shot. 

"Umpqua River Fish Ladder"

This is where I started thinking about how many pictures do you have to take?  How many will you use?  Lesson learned: None yet!  Ask yourself, will anyone want to buy these?  Probably not!  Lesson Learned: Not yet!  More on this later.  

Just down the street form the hotel off the freeway and in a view point area is this magnificent waterfall/lock area.  I have photographed this before, but didn't get the look I wanted.  I was really liking this image and wanted to share it.  This is Williamette River, waterfalls and/or locks.  I think I will have to look more into this site.  It is beautiful though.

"Willamette River Locks"

This area being so close to our hotel, we decided to explore it better.  From the other side.  Not with much luck.  We couldn't get close to the area because of the paper mill, private propertly, on the river and blocking most of the lock area.  On the other side of the river however, we got a glimpse of the waterfall and a better view of the paper mill.  It was interesting in it's own way.

"Willamette River Falls"

"Willamette Paper Mill"

Well, this is probably getting boring to you, so I guess I'll move on.  This trip was really a scouting mission to see the area and get to know it.  Lesson Learned:  You can't move quickly and achieve the photo someone would buy.  I am a professional and you can't take pictures without thought and time to get it right and get something someone will buy.  So, this is a trip we will redo in the future and take better pictures and more thoughtful pictures.

There are so many beautiful sites on this trip that you really don't know what to shoot, photograph.  So I'll show a few of them and maybe post more as I get to them.  The next set of pictures were around the Mt. Rainier area.  It was overcast most of the morning and a picture of the mountain became doubtful.  Still there were many opportunities for pictures.

"A Pathway To The Barn"

"Gray Jay"

"Avalanche Lily"

"Diane In Mt. Rainier"

This picture of Diane does not have Mt. Rainier in the background.  It is more to the right and still couldn't be seen.  Around 3:00 PM we got our first glimpse of the mountain.  For a short time.  What a beautiful site.

"Mt. Rainier I"

There were many more images of Rainier but we must move on and the next morning was better. 

"Pink Mountain Heather"

"Reflection Lake"

"Grazing Fawn"

"Reflection Lake Pathway"

"Sitka Valarian"

OK...I couldn't resist.  I had to include a swirl.

"Sitka Swirl"

"Mt. Rainier II"

"Hoary Marmot"

Lesson Learned:  I have been drilling myself to use a tripod at all times.  We were moving at such a fast pace, I barely had enough time to get out of the car and shoot.  Never, never think you are steady enough to do it without some kind of support.  Especially with a long lens.  I took so many of this interesting mammal and it's mate and very few were usable.  Low light area and long lens and no tripod.  Always take the time and think of the shot.  See the shot.  Then take the shot.  Make sure the settings are right too.  The above gray jay was another great example of this mistake.  Never say I can do it.  Not with a camera and wanting to sell the pictures.  Another one was this little guy, it isn't good enough to be used, but is an interesting creature.

"Pica"

Next we headed for Mt. St. Helen's.  Beautiful ride in a beautiful area. Then you turn a corner and there is a totally different scene.  You can see the devastation from 30 years ago.  New growth, but the volcano blast left a scare.  Here is a panorama of Mt. St. Helen's from Windy Ridge.  We climbed 368 steps to the top of the ridge to get this shot.  You can see there is still no growth in front of the blast.

"Mt. St. Helen's Volcanic Blast"

"Mt. St. Helen's II"

Spirit Lake, at the bottom of the hill is still filled with debris from the blast.  Burned logs still sit on top of the lake. 

"Spirit Lake"

Still, life has moved back into the area, and fir trees are replacing the redwoods lost in the blast.  Remember, this is 30 years after the blast.

"Variable Checkerspot"

"Windy Ridge Sand Ladder"

A lot of the old redwoods still lay on the ground, showing more of the blasts destruction.

There was so much more we saw on the trip, but this is a few of the images I thought would be best to see.  I will post more soon I hope.  And, oh yes, can you take too many pictures?  NEVER!  But are they all professional grade.  NOT!  Most of them will be for memories.  But, some of them will be something someone else was unable to get and might want to purchase. And some will remind you what you might want to shoot the next time.  And believe me, I have found that going back and re-shooting makes for better and salable pictures.   I hope you enjoy these images.  I will enjoy working on more of them to show in the future.