Sunday, October 12, 2008

Fall Arrives in the Mountains


Here in the Pacific Northwest, it seemed summer lasted only a few weeks this year. We had one of the latest spring snows on record. And just a few weeks ago at Mount Rainier National Park, summer wildflowers were blooming next to ground cover ablaze in fall colors.

Despite a half-foot of snow at Stevens Pass this week, there's still plenty of fall color to be seen, especially on the east slope of the pass and along the Wenatchee River as you approach Leavenworth.

This image came from a crowded pull out, a few miles west of town. At times, I shared this spot with a half-dozen other photographers — some with SLRs, some with cell phone cams. I'm sure we all came home with different photos, though.

One person I talked to loved the color on the hillside. Another person was enamored with the rocks. I have a few images of the hillside and the rocks in the Wenatchee River, but this was my favorite image of the day.

Arriving at the turnout, I was struck by the beauty of the bare trunks against the golden fall color. It's been said the best art contains only the minimum number of elements to get its point across. I don't usually shoot abstract, impressionistic images, but the reflection in this tiny section of the Wenatchee River contained everything that drew me there. The lines may not be perfectly straight, but to me the reflection captured the essense of the place far better than a traditional shot ever could.

What do you think?

(More images at LivingWilderness.com)

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