Fine Art Photography Blog

I’ve been working for Getty Images as a contractor over the last few months; all contractors are being dismissed due to budget constraints, so I’ve found a new job - still in the IT sector - and managed a few days off to explore Western Washington, my little corner of the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately, with my new tripod broken out of the box, I came back with less photos than I’d intended.

Directions

North Cascades is a long drive from Seattle, but it doesn’t have to be an ugly one; leave I-5 for route 530 just north of Marysville, avoiding the ride and traffic all the way to Mount Vernon. You’ll pass through what feels like hundreds of miles of forests, farmland, and foothills before joining SR 20 in Rockport and starting your ascent. Unlike most national parks, North Cascades doesn’t have an entrance fee, as it straddles one of three passable routes across the mountains in Washington State.

At this point there are jagged and sharply cut mountains with glaciers pouring down their peaks like giant white tongues … but they can only be seen now and then through openings between the evergreens. Much of what there is to see is more intimate in nature: waterfalls, staunch rows and deep columns of trees, aligned like a Roman phalanx into a northwestern forest.

But every now and then you catch a teasing glimpse of the epic mountains surrounding you, at this point in every direction. As the road climbs, the surroundings get less green and lush, gradually feel more desert-like, until Washington Pass confirms that you might as well be in Nevada. Once you climb down out of the mountains, it feels amazingly like Owens Valley, in California, just east of the Sierra.

Traditionally the Cascade Loop means heading east on US 2 over Stevens Pass, but having been there less than two weeks ago, I stayed on US 97, following the Columbia River south to I-90; the cheater’s route back to Seattle. The canyons leading into the eastern foothills look a lot like some of the canyons heading up out of Boulder, Colorado.

Lighting, Sun, and Patience

It will take several trips to build a portfolio of North Cascades photos. Throughout this trip, the sun was harsh, throwing up a lot of heat haze, brightening the sky and turning mountains into brown silhouettes.

Most of the great masters would tell you lighting is the most or only important quality of a photograph, even if Old Ansel would argue for the weather. Having left Seattle at about 9:30 am and arriving in the park three hours later, the light was too harsh for good landscape photography. A place like this would sing with alpineglow in the morning or at sunset.

Since I haven’t figured out how to influence the weather or light, it seems like the best way to approach this park is to go camping a few days at a time.

Photos