24 Jan 19 For today's Theatrical Thursday there was a choice of something from the European cruise, Yellowstone, or local. Jan said local, so here we have a shot taken from roughly the same spot as last year. This time it's a landscape vice portrait look and unlike last year's sans snow. This year's trip to the Skagit swapped snow for wind and some brilliant sunshine with totally blue skies for clouds. Given a choice, I'd prefer last year's weather but you work with what you're presented. There is a location on the Skagit at roughly the 90 mile marker - or mile post as some prefer to call it - where there are a large number of cement things in the river which for lack of a better name I'll call a log jam that serve some purpose. They are to my knowledge a relatively recent addition to the river which I'm guessing were put there for some kind of flood control. I've never found any info as to why they are located where they are but they do make for an interesting curiosity. You can see some of them at the bottom of this image. This location is not far from the town of Concrete so I thought just for fun I'd "paint" it onto concrete. The Diablo range of the Cascade mountains forms the background with the Skagit river twisting through the middle of the frame. Other than the conversion to the concrete look, I've also given the bare trees a little attention. Painted Over Concrete Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/500 sec @ f / 9.
16 Jan 19 I'll press my luck and go with a second mountain image from Monday's trip up the Skagit. This time I'm going with a B&W in part because my bride, who typically doesn't like the genre, took one look and said "that looks like an Ansel Adams print." Can't get a much better compliment than that so now you get to comment, at least to yourself. I've been told the name of this peak is Lookout Mountain but I can't find any named photos to collaborate it so I'll leave it unnamed. Driving along Hwy-20 with the Skagit River on your right, at the point in Marblemount where the road and the river make a 90 degree turn to the left, there is a bridge crossing the river. The road on the other side of the bridge is Cascade River Road. This road goes about 18 miles and dead ends. At roughly the 7 mile mark is a small pull out which provides this view. This is as far as we've taken the drive as the road is generally covered in deep snow at this point and I haven't wanted to challenge Mother Nature more than necessary. Monday the road was completely dry but we had more places to visit and didn't press on. If Hwy-20 is on your horizon do take a few minutes to drive along Cascade Rive road to enjoy this magnificent view. This is a four frame pano that I've severely cropped for best presentation. I should have taken the shot as an HDR series but failed to notice the need while I was shooting. As such the entire right hand side hillside was lost so I cropped all that away. As such you miss some of the grandeur of the location. Pano Under Harsh Lighting Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/1250 sec @ f / 9.
15 Jan 19 Very late today; my apology. We got up way before the sun on Monday and headed for the North Cascades region of the state on our annual trek to that area to see what's there. It was the day after the annual Eagle Festival and apparently all the stars had checked out and gone on their way. We saw a total of 4 but as they weren't the reason for the trip it didn't matter. Had that been the number hanging out over the weekend I'm rather certain it would have been duly noted!! We were hoping for some white weather but instead were treated to lots of yellow weather and completely empty skies. That made for some challenging photography; very high contrast and nothing to counter it. But I still took couple hundred images including many from a few locations we hadn't visited in the past as well as some from areas we frequently visit. By the time we got back home we were tired, cold, and ready to crash. A few too many tasks for this morning added to the delay. But let's start with a shot that shows how we ended out shoot. I've shared shots from this spot before, but they have always been of the late afternoon type. So here is 7,853 foot Sloan Peak, not high enough to be considered a real mountain out here, just a foothill, but I'll wager a pretty good sized mountain for those of you on the right coast. The setting sun provided a subtle display of color all the way to dark; morning was just a bit more vibrant. We got to enjoy it all from before start to after finish. Kinda hard to beat a day like that and a much appreciated break from the rains. Today it is similar; tomorrow the rains are slated to return. Other than a bit of straightening, this is what the camera recorded. Sunset on Sloan Peak Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 640; 1/200 sec @ f / 9.
