Photographer’s Notes See anybody on the road less traveled? No, I didn't think so! Me neither.
Paradise, on Mt Rainier, is 112 miles from my house by the most direct route. I know this because I've driven it 4 times in the last week looking for the perfect picture of this great mountain. The first trip, I spent the night at the remodeled Paradise Inn. Good news, the remodel didn't harm the historic Inn's character. Bad news, most of the improvements were to infrastructure items which also didn't improve the Inn much from a visitor's perspective.
On the first trip, I came prepared for cold, for rain (or snow), and for wind ... just not all four at the same time. The clouds started at the ground and it was difficult to see beyond about 20 feet. Not much good for photography. On the second trip, the weather had warmed up, the wind stopped, and the skies were clear ... better than clear, humidity was very low. A perfect day for photos.
I drug my sorry ass out of bed at 5:00 AM and was on the mountain by 8:00. I was there so early I had it to myself for a couple of hours. By noon I'd hiked about as far as my aging and slightly hurty knees would go and returned home with lovely photos. The line of cars at the National Park entrance was 2 miles long when I left. I got out while the getting was good!
I wasn’t aware of the Road Less Traveled challenge until I returned home. What luck.
Post Processing • Convert from RAW (PS CS3)
• Correct Color (Curves Layer)
• Lighten Foreground (Hue/Saturation Layer)
• Erase dust Spots (Clone Layer)
• Resize (Bicubic Sharper)
• Sharpen (USM)
• Save for Web
Camera Data • Date: 2008-08-23
• Camera: Nikon D3
• Lens: 24-70 f/2.8 @ 40 mm
• ISO: 400
• Aperture: F/10
• Shutter: 1/1000
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This place is heaven for photographers. I went there a couple of years ago to climb it and was amazed by how much variety the park has to offer. Everyone must visit this park at some point in their life. Try to get down the trails if you can. It is so worth it. I may be working there as a ranger next summer so say hi if you see me. I'll give you some inside info.
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