I managed to join the Rainier revelry just before summer left us. Believe it or not, although a native Seattleite, I'd never been to the Reflection Lakes in Mount Rainier National Park. I'm guessing I'm not the only one. I took my family there the next day, a Saturday that was so packed, overflow parking stretched at least a mile down Paradise Valley Road. Yet, we easily found parking at the Reflections, which is on Stevens Canyon Road, a right turn on the way to Paradise.
The place can be magical. I'd never seen a red fox in the wild until one bounded down the trail at me while I was scouting for a spot from which to shoot. I'd hoped it was an omen. As usual, it wasn't until after all but two of the couple dozen or so photographers left, that the light got a little interesting.
I have two takes on the scene: "Regular folk" seem to like the first one, and photographers seem to favor the long exposure.
Nits and picks are appreciated, as always.
Best,
Glenn
P.S.: I added No. 3 with more blue and magenta removed. I'm not expert enough with colors to know if blue (from the sky) also gets exaggerated during a long exposure, the blue from the filter notwithstanding.
Edit: No. 2 replaced as black-and-white conversion.
1. Mount Rainier catches sunrise and reflects in Reflection Lake.
2. A longer exposure to capture cloud movement, converted to B&W.
3. Same as No. 2, but with more blue and magenta cast removed.
You have some great clouds and still water. A lovely place.
My only thought is the color balance in #2 seems a bit too blue/magenta.
Since I will not be returning soon you better go more often for me!
dgdg wrote:
You have some great clouds and still water. A lovely place.
My only thought is the color balance in #2 seems a bit too blue/magenta.
Since I will not be returning soon you better go more often for me!
David
Thanks, David. I agree about No. 2, but wonder why. I used both a polarizer and a Lee Filters Big Stopper, so a lot of blue cast. But I tried to crank out both, adjusting white balance in the Raw converter, then using the Remove Color Cast filter in ColorEfex (you shoulda seen it before!).
What cool shots! I am guessing that you will be a little more of a regular visitor now to Reflection Lake? I really like #1, what cool colors and light. I agree with Scott, the edited version looks really nice.
What cool shots! I am guessing that you will be a little more of a regular visitor now to Reflection Lake? I really like #1, what cool colors and light. I agree with Scott, the edited version looks really nice.
Jim
Thanks, Jim! You know it. I took a great hike just beyond, to Bench and Snow Lakes, and I just took my daughter to the Reflections.
Photo GeekMan wrote:
Beautiful set. #3 is my favorite. Removing the excessive blue tones also seems to expose more detail in the shadows and reflections. Well done!
Thank you. I think you're right on about the detail.
