Loowit Skittles

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 16, 20111,019 views49 comments

Having Friday morning off, I ran up to Mt. St. Helens after work Thursday. I was bicycling the Spirit Lake Highway last week and knew the flowers were doing well at the Loowit Viewpoint. I hung around for a couple hours, but the mountain was obscured by clouds. I spent the night at a nearby campground and went back Friday morning about 45 minutes before dawn, but the mountain was obscured by clouds again. Discouraged, I thought about heading home, but since I didn't have to be to work until 2 pm I decided just to hang in the car and listen to a book on tape for awhile. About 40 minutes after sunrise, the clouds opened up and I was able to grab this.

Nikon D80
Nikon 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 at 12 mm
Hand blend of three photos for DOF and DR
1/8 sec at f/16 and ISO 100 x 2, and 1/20 sec at f/16 and ISO 100

Comments

49 comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on July 16, 2011 at 4:43 PM

Very nice, John. Getting people warmed up for the summer mountain/flower parade, eh? Classically beautiful image here. Masterfully processed. Your going to become known as the flower guy around here!

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on July 16, 2011 at 4:51 PM

Thanks Marc; just had to pop back in to give inspirational credit where due.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Plant on July 16, 2011 at 5:15 PM

sweet shot John!

Registered on July 7, 2008, 271 Posts, 1657 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on July 16, 2011 at 5:18 PM

John: Persistence and patience rewarded. Not a bad Flora image either. Jaw dropping gorgeous. >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Art Escobado on July 16, 2011 at 5:31 PM

WOW!

killer processing - epic

Registered on January 7, 2007, 0 Posts, 775 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on July 16, 2011 at 5:35 PM

Eh, I don't know. I've never really spent much time up at St. Helens. I know the flowers can get pretty spectacular but I've only seen pretty isolated displays and haven't shot it in years. Never gave it the time I needed to really get the light and skies either. You really nailed it here.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on July 16, 2011 at 6:02 PM

Your patience sure paid off!
Exceptional flowers anchoring a wonderful mountain-scape.
Not the smallest nit from me - gorgeous!

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on July 16, 2011 at 6:30 PM

Well done, John! No nits.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on July 16, 2011 at 6:50 PM

Hope the book on tape was half as good as this image! Talk about something being worth the wait! You have a real piece of art here, John.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on July 16, 2011 at 6:52 PM

Woohooo. Awesome work!

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on July 16, 2011 at 8:15 PM

Beautiful Capture!

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on July 16, 2011 at 8:29 PM

Stunning shot, the blooms, lighting, clouds. It's got it all.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on July 16, 2011 at 8:38 PM

Dang! This is sweeeeeet! I am loving all the different layers and the soft lighting. Well seen....from your bike even!

Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on July 16, 2011 at 9:28 PM

Wow, that is awesome! Fantastic comp and light.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Duval on July 16, 2011 at 10:40 PM

John,

Jaw dropping beautiful from front to back. Challenges reality....

Paul

Registered on June 30, 2009, 508 Posts, 1907 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Dayton on July 16, 2011 at 11:47 PM

This is gorgeous, John! Thanks for giving us a larger version. You followed
the rule of thirds and provided a strong FG with a complementary sky. Wonder-
ful color and lighting. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments

Comment posted by Phil Pogledich on July 17, 2011 at 1:07 AM

Phenomenal! What a stunning display, front to back, and you captured it perfectly. Very memorable image, John.

Registered on August 24, 2009, 123 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by Andreas Resch on July 17, 2011 at 2:43 AM

Just incredible what you did here, John.

Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Maile on July 17, 2011 at 6:07 AM

Lovely light, beautiful colors and wonderful comp... processing, home run. It all works here John, eye popper!

Registered on March 2, 2009, 984 Posts, 2518 Comments

Comment posted by INGOMA on July 17, 2011 at 8:27 AM

Classic John Williams. I love the quality of light in your images - soft yet always striking.

Registered on July 2, 2004, 231 Posts, 3110 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on July 17, 2011 at 9:07 AM

John I just love the colours you captured here, in a very nice deep composition too!

Nothing to crit...just enjoying it!

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on July 17, 2011 at 9:13 AM

Hi John, This is beautiful!! I love the light, fantastic color and the wonderful depth this has. Awesome work.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on July 17, 2011 at 9:49 AM

This is stunning, John! Your persistance really paid off with this beauty. The soft lighting is perfect and those wildflowers make a wonderful FG.

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Roberts on July 17, 2011 at 10:03 AM

Persistence definitely paid of here. Really a well done image.

Registered on March 9, 2011, 69 Posts, 501 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on July 17, 2011 at 12:12 PM

Great shot. Processing is perfect!!!

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Koveh Tavakkol on July 17, 2011 at 2:32 PM

Beautiful composition and colors John!

Registered on September 1, 2009, 41 Posts, 608 Comments

Comment posted by Hamed Musharbak on July 17, 2011 at 3:22 PM

Wow!! this is so nice, the vibrant colors just stunning

Hamed

Registered on June 1, 2009, 372 Posts, 2282 Comments

Comment posted by dean hebert on July 17, 2011 at 5:39 PM

Beautiful!

Registered on August 4, 2010, 70 Posts, 1132 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on July 17, 2011 at 5:45 PM

Totally over the top.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Pedro Bento on July 17, 2011 at 8:01 PM

Is this beauty true real?!

I have no words for such a magical image

Registered on September 2, 2007, 45 Posts, 761 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on July 17, 2011 at 9:17 PM

Challenges reality.... Is this beauty true real?!

I forgot to mention that I trimmed off the grass blade on the left hand side. It stuck up above the level of the other vegetation and looked awkward.

Seriously though, these flower shows in the Pacific Northwest can be truly unbelievable. If your interested to see how the photo looks as it progresses through processing, here is a rotating GIF (1,003kb) that shows the JPG straight out of the camera (I was shooting so that the camera recorded both RAW and basic JPG), the photo as it came out of RAW for blending (I follow the Margulis school of though and bring the photo out of RAW with all adjustments turned off), contrast adjustments in RBG, color adjustments in LAB, final tweaks back in RGB, and the re-sized and sharpened version posted here.

I tried to post a link to one of the RAW photos, but it's too large for my Comcast account. Anyone know where I can host a file over 8mb?

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on July 18, 2011 at 12:35 AM

Gorgeous! This instantly reminded me of Marc' shot. So a great image can have a lasting effect on people. I'm sure this one will stick in my memory as well.

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on July 18, 2011 at 2:39 AM

Couldn't let this one slip by without commenting John. Perfect title to an amazing image. The mix of colors and the depth of the image are superb. This must be your neck of the woods. Well done!

Registered on September 29, 2009, 137 Posts, 2659 Comments

Comment posted by Mat Malone on July 18, 2011 at 10:57 AM

You know, I think wildflower shots like this usually don't work when pointing down-slope. But the way you managed to include some flowers in the MG make this work. Beautiful shot and a wonderful wildflower display!

Registered on December 15, 2008, 91 Posts, 882 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on July 18, 2011 at 12:05 PM

Doesn't get much better than this. Well done, John.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on July 18, 2011 at 12:11 PM

Intense image! Love the purples throughout, realyy ties the image together, though the composition is pretty flawless. Great vantage point with the expansive view. The web large view FG looks a little oversharpened to me, but an exception al shot.

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on July 18, 2011 at 1:46 PM

Magnificent color and atmosphere John. Well worth the wait I would say.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Rossbach on July 18, 2011 at 3:43 PM

Beautiful light and comp John!!

Registered on November 25, 2005, 484 Posts, 1377 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on July 18, 2011 at 6:25 PM

Really beautiful image...best I've seen from this location!

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on July 19, 2011 at 1:21 AM

Awesome!

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Chikku Baiju on July 19, 2011 at 2:33 PM

Wow, this is just amazing. The processing is god like here.

Registered on January 9, 2010, 31 Posts, 246 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on July 19, 2011 at 7:29 PM

No nits! Excellent shot. I like that the clouds are giving the mountain a bit of ambiguity.

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on July 20, 2011 at 2:33 AM

Well done John. I was just teaching about the Mt. St. Helens eruption of 1980 and how it devastated the landscape. It is so refreshing to see it in the process of renewal and your photo reminds us of that perfectly.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by David Edwards on July 20, 2011 at 5:44 AM

Another stunning image, John. Wonderful vivid color and excellent processing. I love the contrast between the vivd fg and muted bg colors. The light is just beautiful.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 142 Posts, 2623 Comments

Comment posted by Gorka Lopez on July 20, 2011 at 11:37 AM

Beautiful light, I love the tones of this image, very pleasing. Well done

Registered on July 4, 2011, 8 Posts, 31 Comments

Comment posted by Alister Benn on July 20, 2011 at 1:16 PM

Worth the wait :-) love the depth of detail here.. and the color..

Registered on June 9, 2011, 23 Posts, 258 Comments

Comment posted by Shaun Mazurek on July 20, 2011 at 1:28 PM

John,
This is simply splendid and serene. I love the layers of this composition:)

Registered on June 12, 2010, 21 Posts, 162 Comments

Comment posted by Jay Levin on July 22, 2011 at 3:48 PM

It's absolutely overwhelming in the larger version, John.