#methow mountains

[thorsenmark]

What a Beautiful Range of Mountains! by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: On a nearby sign at this overlook to Washington Pass, there's a poem by William Stafford entitled "Silver Star." It's written about a mountain and its life. The end part mentions a voice from the sky saying with a praise and reward "well done!" As I looked across this mountain valley to Silver Star Mountain and then further northeast across the ridgeline of Vasiliki Ridge and the South Washington Pass range, I could only think to myself "well done"...these mountain peaks were truly amazing and a sight to see! For the image, I later used some CEP filters (Low Key, Polarization and Graduated Neutral Density) in Capture NX2 which seemed to best bring out look I wanted for this mountain setting in the North Cascades.

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Views of McGregor Mountain from Howard Lake (Coon Lake, North Cascades National Park Service Complex) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: Even though the reflections off Howard Lake were captivating that afternoon, I did remember to look around and take in view of the nearby mountains. With the clouds being slightly overcast at times, I tried to minimize that, bringing more of a focus to the mountainside and peaks above.

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Jagged Peaks Along the Vasiliki Ridge by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: For this image, I decided zoom in and capture a view of some of the mountain peaks on the other side of this valley at Washington Pass Overlook. In some ways, it was like a stepped view of one set of peaks after another. The closer set of peaks are of Silver Star Mountain; the ridgeline off in the distance are of Vasiliki Ridge. Not wanting to blow any of the highlights with the snow and clouds above, I decided to keep my SLR camera in Manual mode and adjust the shutter speed to capture that "right" exposure, balanced with the more shadowed and midtone areas of the mountainside and peaks. I later used some CEP filters (Low Key, Polarization and Graduated Neutral Density) in Capture NX2 which seemed to best bring out look I wanted in a final image, even with the bright sunlight that day.

[thorsenmark]

Mountain Peaks Beyond Some Nearby Trees by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: This was captured at Washington Pass in Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. In order to capture this image, I had to try to maneuver myself around the large rocks and boulders at this overlook point. What I wanted to capture was to use the nearby trees as "look beyond," so to speak. I then worked the aperture and shutter speed to get that good enough exposure between some brighter highlighted areas of the nearby trees with the sunlight reflecting off of it and some of the more shadowed areas of the mountainside off in the distance. What I was also attempting to do was not have all of the image filled with the far-off mountainsides, but rather balanced with some of the blue skies and white, puffy clouds above.

[thorsenmark]

Silver Star by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: As I looked across this is a valley between two mountains, I'm noticed a sign as part of this overlook for a poem written by William Stafford. Standing there and taking in this view, I tried to imagine this mountain as it lived the life described in the poem... “Silver Star” by William Stafford June 5th, 2009 To be a mountain you have to climb alone and accept all that rain and snow. You have to look far away when evening comes. If a forest grows, you care; you stand there leaning against the wind, waiting for someone with faith enough to ask you to move. Great stones will tumble against each other and gouge your sides. A storm will live somewhere in your canyons hoarding its lightning. If you are lucky, people will give you a dignified name and bring crowds to admire how sturdy you are, how long you can hold still for the camera. And some time, they say, if you last long enough you will hear God; a voice will roll down from the sky and all your patience will be rewarded. The whole world will hear it: “Well done.”

[thorsenmark]

What a Beautiful Range of Mountains! (Black & White) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: As I stood at this overlook to Silver Star Mountain across this valley, I found myself capture many an image while soaking in the views and deliciously wonderful cold air. Composing and metering this image was pretty much finding the right balance of mountainside, peaks and clouds and then exposing it in Manual mode. For this image, I decided to try out this "Ansel Adams Look" I'd read about in Jason Odell's book on Capture NX2. The idea is to work with the LCH editor, making some adjustments, and then use a Black point and White point before converting to black & white. I added a reverse graduated neutral density filter to complete the image.

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Rainbow Falls Seemingly Hidden Amongst the Trees (North Cascades National Park Service Complex) by Mark Stevens

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Mountain Peaks of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (Black & White) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A view looking to the east while on the ferry boat ride to Stehekin. While I wasn't able to identify the specific peak of the ridgelines, my GPS position indicated it was most likely Little Goat Mountain using the peakbagger web site. I later converted the image to black & white using Capture NX2 where I used some color filters to bring out a much richer tonal contrast for the final image.