It was still cold when I stepped out of the tent. The soft tussock, wet from the overnight condensation, cushioned my steps as I headed towards the shore of the vast lake. The sun had been out for over an hour, a bizarre consequence of being at such high latitudes, and yet low enough in the the sky to cast long shadows that highlight the rocky treeless terrain.
It would be a while before the wind picked up, I was told, and hence I dragged my camera out to capture the reflection. I wasn't used to being above the treeline on the shore of a vast lake amidst this alpine wilderness, so I just took my time to immerse myself in the solitude of this morning, knowing fully well that I may never get to see the Alaska range highlighted on such a clear day.
Lake Clark National Park
AK USA
Our Night Skies
Tonight, wherever you are, go outside and look at the sky. Can you see the wonders? Overhead are countless distant fires, stars upon stars in clusters and constellations, a natural darkness where the faintest colors and lights shine. For most of human history, wherever on the globe, this was the night we knew. This was the darkness in which all life evolved and which our body and spirit still crave. Art and science and religion all flowed from our experience of natural darkness and a starry night sky. This is where we came from, this is who we are.
– Paul Bogard, author of End of Night, 2019
I have been very privileged to live in places where I can access the backcountry where I can see spectacular night skies sparkling with the light of a 100 stars, and where the silence of nature is omnipresent. But ever so slowly, we are losing access to these places where we can appreciate our dark skies. With the work of the International Dark Sky Association, we are able to preserve the such dark places. But even then, there are no rules that govern the satellites that roam the sky above.
Here is one image of a perfectly good night sky polluted by the light from a satellite drifting across the arc of the Milky Way
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
OR USA
The Changing Summer
The summer has been a bizarre one in the Pacific Northwest. First the region was baked under a historic heat wave that melted snow off the summits of the North Cascades Peak, which triggered wildfires in varied regions across the west. And when the region normally suffers an unending deluge of smoke, the winds shifted direction and started cooling down. Rain showers, common during the summer, were few and far in-between. And in addition, the increase in local travel this year meant many of the easily accessible backcountry locations were far more crowded. These changes necessitated rethinking my hiking strategy, including skipping favored destinations in search of more off-beat ones.
I am glad I found a few, including this one that transported me to the Swiss alps. But with the season slowly coming to a close, I wonder what the winter, and next year, holds in store for this changing landscape.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
Granitescapes
One of the many things I miss about leaving California is the Sierra Nevada: a sanctuary of granite peaks where the barren skin of towering rocky outcrops rise from lightly vegetated valleys and the lush green meadows surrounding glistening alpine lakes. The North Cascades of Washington, being a bit younger, don't offer a similar landscape, and I had to drive far to search for one. But in the end, I did find one in one corner of the Pacific northwest, and I spent days traversing high mountain passes, rocky peaks, dusty trails, and of course, refreshingly cold alpine lakes.
In the Sierras, landscapes like these are a cathedral of light, whether it be the shadows from clouds moving across the landscape, or an afternoon thunderstorm that leaves behind a beautiful golden glow on the rocky landscape. I never realized until I got here how much I had craved this dynamic light as a photographer. And I was glad i could find it here.
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
OR USA
The Great Escape
The summer has been a constant challenge of struggling to balance life and work, and seeking to find those voids where I could quickly retreat to the outdoors. Not only do these trips help provide a breathing room in our busy lives, but a whiff of greenery has boosted our morale which had taken a hit over the last few months of a stressful pandemic season. In a way, these trips where we climb high above the urban landscape, is symbolic of our struggles to forget them momentarily and to lead our lives with the simplest of needs: food, shelter and clothing.
I hope we get to continue doing these, if only to remind us that the machinations of everyday life are not the only things to live for
Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
Golden Gardens
Fall is still a month away, and yet I can't stop thinking about the hiking through the golden wall of larches that are pervasive in the drier parts of the Pacific Northwest. I found this grand forest of larches hiking in one of these areas, growing in profuse abundance around a deep blue alpine lake. I reveled in every step in this golden forest, admiring the bright yellows adorning the white bark of the conifers.
Will this year be just as good? Only time will tell.
Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest
WA USA
A Night Out
Unlike the previous one, which was a fortuitous coincidence of circumstances, shots of the Milky Way, like the one above, are far more planned. Having had an image in mind of a composition involving the galactic arm rising above the snow-capped volcanic cone of Mt Baker, just as the first rays of moonlight light up the east-facing slopes, I trudged up an appropriate viewpoint at sunset hoping to stake out such a location. But despite the planning, this too required quite a bit of luck: a cloud-free smog-free sky unaffected by the wildfires raging the Pacific Northwest, and snow-free access to a location where this shoot was possible.
Thankfully, the atmospheric conditions cooperated for the most part, and except for the light polution at the horizon, and the light haze from the fires, it was a blissful night for photography. I watched as the sky slowly transitioned from the orange hues of sunset to the deep purple of twilight, and small sparks of light slowly appeared in the sky, starting with the brightest planets (Venus and Jupiter) followed by the dimmer stars. Soon thereafter, the band of the Milky Way slowly made its appearance, first visible only to the camera, and then to the naked eye. The mercury dropped too, and I found it ever more harder to keep myself warm, but I persisted, waiting until the band slowly moved over to the summit of Mt Baker.
Mt Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA
Rising above the fog
More often than not, when I am heading out to shoot, I have a place and time in mind that has been carefully planned for, taking into consideration the weather, smoke, light and landscape. And that constitutes a majority of what I shoot. And then I have others that I shoot by happenstance - I just happen to be at the right place at the right time.
This morning, as I was heading back after a long night of shooting, I noticed a river valley completely enveloped in ground-level fog, reducing visibility to a few hundred feet. I ventured a bit more cautiously, hoping to get out of the thick fog. But as the sun came up, this fog started to glow with an inner fire, and I knew I had to shoot it. Around me was the everyday workings of a rural farm: barns, tractors and a few cornfields. As I scouted for locations, I came upon a little rise in the road where the fog, now below me, was spreading through woods and catching the morning light. That scene matched an image I had had in my repertoire of a classic sunrise over a foggy Napa Valley, and while not the same, made me stop to catch the light.
Whatcom County
WA USA
Winter is Coming
Winter is coming
At one point in time, it seemed that the entirety of the Pacific Northwest was being engulfed in wildfires. It felt like the doomsday predicted by the warming climate was getting closer with each passing day. However, that doomsday prophecy has now shifted to California which has more than its fair share of wildfires.
During these warm and balmy days, I often reminisce the cool and wet days of winter, when snow blankets the entire Pacific Northwest, with both valleys and mountaintops taking on a bright white sheen. On such crisp winter days with sunny skies, I sought out vistas of the snow-capped landscape from high atop the Cascades. It was quite a struggle to trudge through knee deep soft snow to climb above the clouds, but in the end, cool vistas like the above make it worth it
Mount Rainier National Park
WA USA
Escaping Civilization
I climbed high above the smoke-filled valley, away from the maddening sounds of civilization, and towards the alpine ridge to catch a breath of fresh mountain air. It was a couple of hours of concerted effort in increasingly warming temperatures to cut above the treeline, but it was effort that was worth the rewards - including the grand vista that you see above.
Sure, I could have stayed at home, watched the telly, planned for my next trip, or enjoyed the creature comforts that we are so used to. But pushing myself to hike to these spectacular destinations helps me realize that just as in nature and in life, hard work is the price for success, and the satisfaction in achieving success lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Every decision we make is a conscious choice on the path we carve for our life, and let it be a thoughtful one.
Baker Snoqualmie National Forest
WA USA