Posted by Steve Cole on August 1, 2010 at 10:58 PM
Convinced a friend to join me for a trip to Spray Park to check out the flowers and shoot sunset. The weather didn't look like it would work out for sunset but it all magically changed in 5 minutes at the peak of sunset. Quite an amazing experience to have all to yourself!
Flowers seem to be between phases. Pockets of avalanche lillies are still present everywhere but most are starting to fade. Not much else to see in the heart of the Park as the lupine are up but not blooming yet.
We found the best wildflowers to be located in the lowest terrace of Spray Park. We would have spent more time in this location but we discovered we weren't alone - my friend discovered a large bear in a grove of trees who wasn't happy to have his/her serenity disrupted by humans. We made a slow but quick retreat from the area.
I spent a couple days up here this weekend too -- I think I may have spoke with you on the trail about some bears roaming the meadows? In any case, it was quite a show.
Posted by David Bostock on August 2, 2010 at 8:41 PM
I really like the moodiness of t his shot, Steve. At first I thought it was too dark/lacking in contrast, but it really grew on me. I wouldn't change a thing.
Posted by Steve Cole on August 3, 2010 at 12:22 AM
A-HA!
YOU'RE the photographer who appeared out of nowhere and in my frame!
We were below and off of the trail so I figured you didn't see us. Here's one of the bracketed shots I took (processed 2x for highlights & shadows) when you appeared from nowhere.
It certainly was a great show. We (thankfully) did not encounter the bear you warned us about. Where you camping in a tent near the large tarn? We walked out that way towards the mountain but it didn't seem like there were any flowers to see. The bear we saw would have been in the terrace below where you camped so hopefully you didn't have a midnight visitor.
BTW, I peeked at your website and you've got some fine photos posted up. The night shot with the stream & the Milky Way is awesome!
David-
Thanks for the compliment. It was a little hard processing these photos because I wanted to post the sequence of photos I took as the fog dissipated. I think I was able to keep the colors/expsoure fairly consistant across the 4 photos in the sequence.
Ahh -- sorry about that! I was pretty focused on the bear I had just seen, and the nice light on rainier. I didn't notice you guys until you were coming up the trail towards me. Next time just holler at me, I promise I'll move .
We were camped on the south side of the trail, a ways back from the first big tarn, further down the trail from where I ran into you and your friend. Around 3am we heard a bunch of crashing noises close to our tent, which had to be due to some type of large animal. It was definitely enough to put a good scare into my wife and me. Maybe it was that bear you saw....
Thanks for the compliment on my photos, I enjoyed browsing your site as well. It looks like you've spent a lot of time in the glacier peak area -- that place is on my list!
Steve,
I like the light on the mountain on the second posted shot, the first one (though moody) is a bit too dark for my tastes. The "ghost" photographer in the image adds an unique element.
Posted by Derek Sedillo on August 3, 2010 at 8:47 PM
The second is one beautiful. Can you say 'Clone Tool!'
Posted by Scott Smorra on August 9, 2010 at 9:11 PM
Very nice shots Steve. The lighting in the 2nd one is awesome and I got a good chuckle looking at the photographer and tripod in the frame
Discussion
7 repliesFlowers seem to be between phases. Pockets of avalanche lillies are still present everywhere but most are starting to fade. Not much else to see in the heart of the Park as the lupine are up but not blooming yet.
We found the best wildflowers to be located in the lowest terrace of Spray Park. We would have spent more time in this location but we discovered we weren't alone - my friend discovered a large bear in a grove of trees who wasn't happy to have his/her serenity disrupted by humans. We made a slow but quick retreat from the area.
Anyways more photos in my blog post writeup:
http://scolephoto.blogspot.com/2010/08/5-minutes-in-spray-park.html
YOU'RE the photographer who appeared out of nowhere and in my frame!
We were below and off of the trail so I figured you didn't see us. Here's one of the bracketed shots I took (processed 2x for highlights & shadows) when you appeared from nowhere.
It certainly was a great show. We (thankfully) did not encounter the bear you warned us about. Where you camping in a tent near the large tarn? We walked out that way towards the mountain but it didn't seem like there were any flowers to see. The bear we saw would have been in the terrace below where you camped so hopefully you didn't have a midnight visitor.
BTW, I peeked at your website and you've got some fine photos posted up. The night shot with the stream & the Milky Way is awesome!
David-
Thanks for the compliment. It was a little hard processing these photos because I wanted to post the sequence of photos I took as the fog dissipated. I think I was able to keep the colors/expsoure fairly consistant across the 4 photos in the sequence.
Thanks again-
Steve
We were camped on the south side of the trail, a ways back from the first big tarn, further down the trail from where I ran into you and your friend. Around 3am we heard a bunch of crashing noises close to our tent, which had to be due to some type of large animal. It was definitely enough to put a good scare into my wife and me. Maybe it was that bear you saw....
Thanks for the compliment on my photos, I enjoyed browsing your site as well. It looks like you've spent a lot of time in the glacier peak area -- that place is on my list!
I like the light on the mountain on the second posted shot, the first one (though moody) is a bit too dark for my tastes. The "ghost" photographer in the image adds an unique element.