Mt Rainier from Edith Creek above Myrtle Falls

I rolled out of bed a little late for sunrise and scurried over the Myrtle Falls to shoot Rainier from the bridge and creek. Here are the better efforts from that belated attempt ;-).

The first was taken with my 24-105mm, the others, linked below, with the Sigma 10-20mm. All are handheld (yeah, I was THAT unprepared the first morning).

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n232/mldiggs/Landscapes/IMG7D-2859Viv.jpg


3 Shot Blend with Photomatix
http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n232/mldiggs/Landscapes/IMG7D-2835_6_7ColorFX-1.jpg

All of them are great, Marylynne. I think I prefer the one you posted here from a composition perspective. My only nit is that the water has a bit of cyan/purple cast that you could easily correct with some selective color balancing. I like the balance of the river in the lower left with the mountain in the upper right. Nicely done, even if it is hand held.

It surprised me that you said it was hand held. I was going to comment on how nice and sharp it looked. For some reason, I really like this shot. Well done! (oh yea, there is the color cast in the water).

Thanks, David and Eric. Since I left the room w/o the tripod, I increased ISO to 250, so I shot it at f8 and 1/90s, which is decent at only 24mm. I like this shot a lot too. It's funny, because I decided there was too little sky and too little water (the mini-fall is kinda chopped off) so I switched to the Sigma 10-20mm for the rest of morning, but wider shots diminished the mountain so signficantly that the later shots seem like busy little creek scenes instead.

I'll work on that color cast in the water (it's hard for me to see, but it will be easy enough to tone down those channels in the highlights--I assume it's the white in the river that has them? If it's the darker pools, holler).

Marylynne, like your shot here. Even being a little late for sunrise, you captured some nice light. I do wish, the little falls were less cut off at the bottom.

Thanks, Joe. I just found another shot (a bit under-exposed) shot at around 20mm. That focal length kept the mountain a nice, commanding size and gave the little drop in the creek some additional room. I'll play with developing that one.

BTW: Thanks to Mark Windom for correctly identifying the creek as Edith Creek (above Myrtle Falls).

Very nice capture, Marylynne! I know this spot well, and like how you used the horizontal orientation to accentuate the broadness of the valley. This doesn't look HDR to me...great job on the post processing!

Thanks, Cory. The first one isn't HDR, but I did use the grad filter tool in LR 3.0 to brighten the foreground and lower exposure in the sky. I messed up though....I'm seeing the bright spot to the left of the mountain just above the ridge. I started with an underexposed image, so there is no excuse for that. I'll retrace my steps and fix that. It really bugs me now.

Cory, now that I've seen your cover photo on OP, I'm even more grateful for your compliments. I live "part-time" (i.e. a couple weekends and weeks a year) in Prineville. We should get together sometime for a hike at Smith Rock or something.