Hood, this morning.

I woke up in the 'Snow-Bunny' sno-park on Hood's South Side. It was two degrees according to my thermometer, but the cold wasn't the first thing I noticed. It was light. Appoximately 15 minutes pre-sunrise, and one thought went through my mind. Oh F**K! I had set the alarm for 5am. I had spent all day yesterday scouting around Tom, Dick and Harry mountain and located several absolutely stunning compositions that would compliment the peak at Sunrise or Sunset. I knew where I wanted to go and I knew it would be great if the skies cooperated. This, now was clearly not an option. I scrambled to jam on my frozen boots and scrape off the windshield and off I went. To a meadow near government camp I had visted previously that offered reasonably good views of the mountain, though it could not have compared with what I found higher on the ridge the day before. I couldn't find my gloves and didn't care at the moment, as the sun was creeping onto the clouds above the peak. I got into my snowshoes and wallowed as fast as I could through the deep poweder into the meadow just out of sight of a resort complex to the East. I set up and shot away at the first thing I saw once in the meadow, which is lined with stream channels (foreground).

All and all I'm glad to have come away with this, but know I missed something much better still. It turns out, I had accidently clicked some stupid button in the back of my alarm that set the thing to millitary time, just before I had re-set the clock before going to bed. Oh well. I think I still found a keeper of a shot with fifteen minutes of work. And I think Zack was up there somewhere also, maybe he captured it better than I did. It was a beautiful, very cold dawn.

I saw the sunrise this morning and thought of you and Zack. It looked really spectacular, at least from the west side, in Oregon City. This is a really "cool" shot. I might be tempted to make it a pano. The large rolling tufts of snow are my focul point here and it grounds that portion more. Can you dodge the little valleys in the tufts to make them more prominant?

I'm glad to hear you are human like the rest of us... I've missed awakenings to similar mishaps.

I came back from Bend on Saturday and saw quite a spectacular sunset on Hood. The pinkest I've ever seen it and some really amazing clouds. The problem was...I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic going 5 miles an hour with nowhere to pull over. That really sucked. I really want to get out to Hood before the beautiful recent snow gets mucked up. I'm planning on an all day Saturday thing...sunrise and sunset up there. Then, Sunday...I'm off to DC for the week.

Gorgeous light and soft pastel color. You came away with a keeper in spite of the alarm clock. One question I do have, though...the midground trees on the left half of the frame are slanted to the right...is this natural or a function of the lens? If the lens, which one were you using??

Just a little lens distortion. It was the 17-40 at 40mm. I'll try to correct it a little in PS when I have time. I think the ones at far right are slanted the other way slightly also. Good eye to catch that.

Nice Marc, all I could do this morning was watch the light rise on the Three Sisters and Jefferson as I drove to Work this morning. It looked like it was shaping up to be an great morning to photograph the Cascades, your photograph proves it.

This morning, eh? It was gray, gray, gary in Hood River this morning.
I like this shot, it's nice a subtle. I could go for less sky and more foreground though.

Really beautiful, Marc. Stunning shot actually in my book.... I love the clouds up top but agree with fixing the slanting tree issue

Really beautiful, Marc. Stunning shot actually in my book.... I love the clouds up top but agree with fixing the slanting tree issue

BTW, Marc, I have to tell you how impressed I am with your determination to get up and get out to get the photos you want. I averaged every other day rock climbing for ten years earlier in my life so I have an idea of your attitude and desire. Still though, it's great to see someone really going after what they want. Keep it up and if there is anything I can ever do to help, don't be afraid to ask.

Thanks Mark. I appreciate it. I've had a few climber friends over the years and climbed at a moderate level myself for a little while and can recognize similarities in the passion. The first time I ever climbed I wanted to go back again and again. Same thing with taking photos. The first time, I was hooked.
Oh yeah, I read several books on my recent long trip, but one in particular really stood out. "On the Ridge Between Life and Death", by famous climber and author, David Roberts. I'm sure you've heard of him. It was a retrospective detailing a life spent in the mountains and the reasons for his passion to climb. I could draw some similarities between my passion for photography and outdoor adventure, and claiming new summits and new routes. You might want to check out the book sometime if you haven't already.

Welcome back Marc! I was befgining to wonder if we had lost you to the wilds completely
This is a beauty, you captured the best light this morning had to offer.

I was at the top of Tom, Dick, and Harry this morning, it was pretty spectacular; getting there with a 50 pound pack, blazing new trail through 5 feet of fluffy powder, and camping in 0 degree temps was not so spectacular, but I'll save that for a another post.

Glad to see you back bud

Wow! I knew I should have gone this morning! Damn it! This is really wonderful.
I had to get stuff ready for the gallery in Stevenson, there is an open house there this weekend coinciding with the town parade and all. So it wasn't a total loss. I think I'm heading out Friday to Saturday though, should be a nice cold trip.

Zack, barring a frozen camera or hands, I'm sure you must have some real beauties from this morning. I can't wait to see. I must have almost run into you up there yesterday! I saw your Jeep in the lot and knew you were somewhere up there. In hindsight, I wish I would have camped up there as well. Very good work getting up there through that powder and camping in 0-degree temps. You now know what tough snowshoeing conditions are like. That's what I had for five days at Crater Lake last year. I love it, but you've got to be well prepared and pace yourself.

Oh yeah, I left more on the bottom and took out the tilted trees and it looks better now.

An Adamas clasiic definatly. Nice work!

There are no words...................

Can't wait for Zack's!
JG

Marc:
Do you have a vertical of this? Those billowing clumps of snow in the foreground (from a stream??) are really intriguing.

Pete