6 Days in the Wa backcountry

  

Vacations come few and far between when you work freelance.
Add to that, being a parent to two busy little boys, and free time becomes a precious commodity.

So, it was quite the stroke of luck when my production schedule changed, pushing my next shoot up a few weeks, thus leaving me a week free while my boys were away on vacation with their mom.

Oh, what to do?
As the ideas bounced around in my head, the thought of a long adventure ride kept pushing itself to the forefront of my mind. Thoughts of heading out with friends, bikes loaded down with camping gear, off to roads and trails unknown, consumed my mind. So after a few calls were made to confirm schedules, I contacted some friends with the idea of taking off on the bikes for a week or so to adventure around the backcountry of the NW.
As luck would have it, two friends were free that week and wanted in on the adventure. So after a little research and discussions about places we would like to go, we decided on riding the Washington Backcountry Discovery Route (WABDR).

http://www.backcountrydiscoveryroutes.com/WABDR

This looked like the perfect trip, offering lots of great scenery, and just long enough to fill in all our free time without having to rush to much.
I've been a dirt bike guy most of my life but adventure riding is a bit new to me, so first thing to do was to get my bike set up for the trip.
I felt my Husky 610 would be the perfect bike for the adventure, it just needed a few easy mods to make it ready for camping and the long days on the trail. So first and foremost was a new seat. The stock seat sucks for anything other than short day trail rides and needed to go. I opted for a seat concepts seat and it worked out great. Very comfy and by far the cheapest option I could find. Next up was a gas tank. The IMS 5 gal tank is really the only aftermarket option on this model of bike. It is huge but the fit and finnish is good and other than having to run fuel lines everywhere, it worked out well. Looking back, I could have made the ride with the stock tank, but it was a nice safety net to have just in case we needed extra fuel. Last up was some way to carry 6 days worth of stuff. I went with the Giant loop soft bags. They had a great rep, and for good reason. They worked great and I had plenty of room for the weeks worth of gear and supplies.
After I had everything set up I took a few little around town rides to make sure all was good to go, then eagerly awaited Monday and the start of our adventure!

Day 1
We headed out Monday around 9am after a quick stop off to say by to my boys.

We opted to take the backroads thru Sandy, then over to Corbet and down the scenic Hwy. Seemed like a good way to get the ride started as we wanted to keep the freeway travel to a minimum.
From there we had to ride on 84 to the start of our route in Cascade Locks and the Bridge of the gods.

We gassed up in Stevenson Wa and headed out for what was looking to be a long but beautiful day in the Mt of the NW. The first leg took longer than I expected, and we ended up rolling into Takhlakh Lake a little late for lunch. But we still stopped for a quick snack and to rest up a bit.
While i've been here many times over the years, the place never gets old and is so beautiful it about takes my breath away every time i'm there.

While photography is a huge part of this blog, it took a big back seat on this trip. Trying to stay on schedule, ridding unknown areas, packing my nice gear and setting up shots was asking a bit much. I just opted on using my iphone for most pics and my G15 for the occasional shot that was either really nice or when I had a little extra time. For the most part though, this trip wasn't about creating great pics, it was all about the ride, with some snapshots to help tell the story, and look back on with fond memories of a great trip with great friends.

After a quick stop at the lake we headed off to Packwood to gas up, then it was up over the pass and down to Rimrock lake to camp for the night.
We were hoping to camp on the lake at Silver Beach Resort, but it was getting late and we pulled into the first campground we came to. After we found a spot, we quickly put up the tents in what little light was left, and settled in for the night.

Day 2
The day started bright and early with the promise of more perfect weather, and what was sure to be some beautiful terrain over Bethel ridge, thru the small town of Nile and up into Ellensburg.

After a quick breakfast we decided to split up and meet Dave (on a BMW650) for lunch in Nile. The route showed some difficult sections on the first leg of the day and it seemed best to have Dave go around and meet up with us later.

The early morning ride by Rimrock lake was a great way to start the day!

As Bruce and I headed away from the lake and up to Bethel ridge, it was clear this was going to be a very pretty section, with great dirt roads and amazing vistas.

As Bruce pulled up to me in this meadow, he said his bike was running odd and he smelled gas. As I looked down I notice gas leaking (like a lot!) from his fuel line. Oh shit! He shut the bike off and I got down to take a look. We got a bit lucky here as the fuel line leaking was the cut across line from one side of the tank to the other. Since his husky is fuel injected and the pump is inside the tank, we were able to shut off the vale at the tank and stop the flow of gas from one side to the other. Looking up close, the culprit was a hose clamp that had slowly worn its way thru the line. We could have taken a bit longer to fix it, but as it was, shutting the fuel off and letting the tank slosh fill up the left side would work out just fine.

So, from here we headed down into Nile and met up with Dave for lunch at the little store / gas station.
After sharing stories about our different rides and downing some yummy hot dogs, he headed north over Cleman Mt heading towards Elensburg. This section was lots of fun with great views and an awesome fast smooth dirt road section that was like riding a groomed MX track out in the Mts!

After a short ride on pavement, we headed to the bypass for the next section. Dave, on the BMW 650 was a bit new to dirt riding and we wanted to play it safe, as many riders had said this section would be by far the most difficult. All ended up well as the bypass was a nice easy cruse and got us into town with plenty of time to find a hotel and walk into town for a nice dinner.

Day 3
While we had hoped to start early, a few bike issues had us waiting in town till the hardware store opened up. With a little free time we grabbed breakfast across the street from Ace, then went to work on fixing some rack and luggage problems before hitting the road towards Chelan.

Since part of the route was closed from Ellensburg to Cashmere and we were running a bit late after our bike matinance, we opted to just take a quick trip up the 97 and over into Cashmere. Once into town we grabbed some lunch at a killer BBQ place before heading off on the 90 mile backcountry ride over to Chelan.

When you leave Cashmire, there is a great paved section that winds up into the canyons, leading to miles and miles of epic dirt roads with great views of the north cascades. Along this section is where we had our first incident. Dave on the BMW went down in a slow technical section and got trapped under his bike. Luckily there were no serious injuries and Bruce and I were close by and were able to pull it off him pretty quickly.

Here is one of many fires we saw on the trip. This one was a little to close for comfort and we didn't hang around long as the winds were blowing.........

After running over a few ridges it was time to drop down into a crazy overgrown jungle single track section that lead to the Lake. That section was a blast and I was laughing the whole way. Not sure why since I was kinda beat at this point. I think it was watching Dave on his big Beemer ripping thru the jungle whacking branches as he whipped by.
We hit the lake just before dark and quickly set up camp at 25 mile creek state park. This is a great little campground with easy lake access, showers and was the perfect place to kick back, relax and tell stories from the days epic ride.

Day 4
We had a big day ahead today so we were up early, packed and on the road by 8. It was a beautiful ride along the lake and was looking to be a great day! Until we rolled into the gas station that is. While my new tank was working great, it ads a lot of weight and when on its kick stand on level ground it is VERY tippy. So....... as I finnished filling up, I turn to put the hose away and my backpack barley brushes up against my bike. Well, thats all it took. Over goes my bike, with the cap off the tank and my gloves and wallet sitting on the seat. Oh so quickly the 5 gallons I just put in start a mass exodus drenching my gloves and wallet.
Fu*%!!!
Well, as mishaps go, this one wasn't to bad and more a pain than anything else. I spent about 20 min in the bathroom getting stuff washed off and luckily the bike was fine. Just bent the hand guard and messed up my key ignition a little.
After the gas fiasco, we grabbed a quick bite to eat in town and looked at the map to go over the days route. With Dave having to head back early for a Mt bike trip with friends, our plan was to head north, then take off west on the North Cascade Scenic Hwy. Bruce and I would decide once we got to Ross Lake if we would then backtrack, hitting Harts pass, Slate peak and a few other scenic spots before heading back to Chelan. Or, we could continue on with Dave to Darrington, then drop south on the Mountain Loop Hwy, then  loop back on Stevens Pass and stay the night in Leavenworth.
Well, the North Cascade HWY (HWY20) was a great choice  and is an AMAZING ride! Once we hit Ross lake we pulled over at the dam for Diabalo lake and had lunch.

   

After lunch Bruce and I decided to make the whole loop and see some new areas instead of mostly backtracking back to Chelan. The trip to Darrington went fast and was a nice ride, but by this time I was getting pretty sick of the pavement and looking forward to the dirt section coming up on the Mt loop Hwy. After saying good by to Dave in Darrington we headed south and hit the Mt Loop Hwy towards Granite Falls. This was a GREAT ride with long sections of some of the best gravel roads and beautiful paved twisty's I have ever ridden. While I had really wanted to hit Slate peak if we backtracked, I was stoked ridding thru this area.  

Once into Granite Falls we realized we really needed to put the hammer down if we had any chance to make it to Leavenworth before dark. No pics, no chit chat about how great a ride it was. Just gas and go!

It was a nice ride by Lake Roesiger down to Stevens Pass Hwy, and while we had some nasty looking weather around us, we stayed dry all the way into Leavenworth. Our only bad luck came about 15 miles from town when Bruce ran out of gas. Here is where I was pretty happy I had got my new tank as I had plenty of fuel for us both. By now it was pretty dark, and I started pulling off my fuel line while Bruce emptied out a Gatorade bottle. We filled it up twice, figuring that should get us into town? Well, its pitch black by now and my headlight is about as bright as a candle so I was not really looking forward to the ride. Sure wish at this point I had got an aftermarket light before the trip! Oh well...
We pull back onto the road and just get to 6th gear. Coming around a corner we see lights and what do ya know, a gas station! Ha, isn't that the way it always works. We had a good laugh then a scary DARK ride into town, got a hotel and quickly headed over to 'Ducks and Drakes' for a late dinner and a few much needed drinks!

Day 5

It rained throughout the night and the road was wet but we lucked out once again with the weather and not a single drop of rain came our way as we left the hotel and headed south towards home.

  

Our plan was to backtrack some of the WABDR sections and do the bypass around Bethel ridge as that would be new to us. Depending on the time, we would either camp up on Bethel or down at Rimrock lake.

From the hotel, we headed south on the 97 through Ellensburg and down one of our favorite WABDR sections and then into Nile for lunch. Along the way, part of the route had changed as a road crew was installing a large culvert and the road was all torn up. It was here that I had my first and only crash. The drop down into the culvert went fine, but the bottom was all loose and deep from the tractors. I put my foot down to turn and it just sunk in, and me and my bike quickly went over. I picked my bike up quick though, not wanting to give Bruce a chance to get any pics of the crash :-)

After lunch we took the bypass around Bethel ridge and had fun exploring and passing time, all the while looking for a good spot to camp for the night.

We made it back to the regular route and quickly headed up to the ridge where we knew there was a great view, and with a little luck, maybe we could find an epic spot for the last night of our trip.

While we saw a few places that would work, I wanted the perfect spot! So off I went out some old dirt skid tracks in hopes of finding something good while Bruce waited on the ridge. 

The road / trail went for longer than I expected and as I came around a sharp left corner was faced with a steep loose hill climb that looked a bit imposing with all the gear strapped to my bike. At first I about wussed out, figuring it had been a great ride so far and I didn't want to take any chances this close to the end. But then I said fu^* it, and the photographer / adventurer in me took over and up the hill I went.

It was a bit sketchy but not to bad, and after a few more turns I was awarded with a view on a grand scale and a perfect spot to camp for the night.

         

               

So, we found a sweet spot for sure, so good in fact, that I finally had the chance to shoot a pic I had been wanting to do for a few years, but till now never really had the chance.

A few years back, I was filming at PIR and was hit by an out of control rider. I was on the inside of a corner in what should have been a perfectly safe spot, but as luck would have it, that day it was the wrong place at the wrong time. The result was a shattered right side pelvis that took 2 major reconstructive surgeries, 8 plates, lots and lots of screws and 3 months in a wheel chair before I could even start rehab. 

I had many great friends help my family and I out, and one company that steeped up as well.

Giant Loop! After hearing about my accident and hi med bills, they auctioned off one of their saddle bags and sent me a check in the mail when the auction was over. Pretty dam cool, especially when you consider I didn't own, or honestly even really knew about them. I had just gotten into dual sporting and never had a need to look into travel gear. So the fact they did this without any connection was super cool of them, and I had often thought of returning the favor some day. Well, today was that day! I could repay Giant Loop with sweet photo of their product.

It was nice having Bruce along as he is also a ad photographer, so between the 2 of us we got everything set up quick. I figured this would be a nice shot for my portfolio as well as a nice ad for Giant Loop, so we had some fun and shot a few different setups. 

Here is a quick how to on the set up of my favorite shot.

First issue was no tripod and just a point and shoot G15 camera. While I did have a little camera mount, it was only about 6 inches high, and that just wasn't going to work for the shot. So, I grabbed Bruces little camp chair and set a few large boulders on it, both for added height and stability. Then I put my mini mount on top and that seemed like it was going to work. Since it was a super contrasty scene being backlit into the sunset, I needed to do multi exposures and strip them together. This meant I needed the camera perfectly still. Not an easy thing to do with the set up I had, but doable.

Most important thing here it to have the camera on a timer so it wouldn't shake when I pushed the button. Also, I shots LOTS of brackets. That way I would have lots of brackets to pick from. If the images from one bracket didn't line up perfectly I would have lots of others as backups.

First I shot the bright exposure for the foreground

Then a much darker exposure for the Mt and clouds

Back home I layered the two together and added a little color to make the overall image pop a bit more. 

When I was finished, I sent it to Giant Loop along with a thank you letter for what they had done, and let them know it was theres to use how ever they would like.

Day 6

It was a great night, and while the clouds looked a little ominous at sunrise, we had yet another amazing day with no rain.

We soaked up the view for a while then packed up and headed down the Mt to have a yummy breakfast at  Silver Beach Resort. From there is was back into Packwood to gas up for the long stretch to Carson.

We rode the WABDR back to Takhlakh lake, taking a little detour over to Walupt Lake.

From here we headed back on route to Takhlakh then over to Council lake. We thought about heading up to Council Butte but the campground was packed with riders everywhere so we opted to head towards home.

We dropped down the old decommissioned road from Council Lake and hit NF 90, then rode to the Lower Lewis River Falls for our last photo op of the trip.

The ride back to Carson went great and we rolled into Stevenson to gas up and grab some pizza before the final leg home. As usual, the ride over the bridge of the gods freaked me out (Why does it always have to be windy going over that slippery metal grated surface?) but the rest of the way went smooth and we rolled into home around 5 with 1168 mile on the odomiter. Just a little shy of my prediction of 1,200 but still a pretty good trip!

This was a first for all of us. While I have been ridding dirt bikes my whole life, I had never done an overnight trip on a bike. None of us had. Dave and Bruce were great partners and I see many more such trips in our future. Were already looking into the Utah Discovery Route, and hope to hit it sometime next year.

If your not sick of looking at pics yet, take a few minutes to check out the video I made of our ride. It has some helmet cam footage mixed in with lots of pics. I have tried and tried to embed the video here but just cant get it to work. So here is the link if you want to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYYHyka2kOE

Hope you enjoyed the writeup and thanks for taking the time to check it out. Feel free to let me know if you have any photo questions or would like route info.

Banks-Vernonia Trail

 The Banks-Vernonia State trail.

I had heard about this trail a few times over the years but luckily just last weekend finally got the chance to check it out. 

My initial plan for the day had actually been to hit the Mt bike trail at Hagg Lake, but heavy rains left me thinking a 15 mile mud ride was a bit much for a late start on a Saturday afternoon. Plus, I had been there many times and I really enjoy finding new places, so.......... I altered my plans, choosing instead to explore something new.
As usual, I like to mix my passion for the outdoors with my love of photography, so packing light with just my iphone and my canon g15 scout camera, I loaded up my bike and hit the road.

Located just about a half hr west of Portland, its just far enough to feel like your out of town, yet close enough to get to for that quick second half of the day ride.

The trail starts in Banks and follows the old railway for 21 miles to Vernonia, passing through LL Stub Stewart Park at around the 9 mile mark, which was my destination for the day.

                                                    

Being a paved trail from a converted railway line, there no major hill climbs, just a slow steady grade as you make your way through the farmlands, then wind your way up into the Mt.  

                            

A few miles out of town you cross this amazing old bridge that has been totally redone for bikers.

If your there with your camera, this is a must stop location. If your an iphone user, don't forget your panorama feature as it can come in really handy here.

Once across the bridge and out of the farm lands you start making your way into the Mt. While the trail stays mellow and easy, it does get a tad steeper, but rewards you with a beautiful and relaxing ride with photo ops all around. Not much in the way of viewpoints as the trail stays in a canopy of trees for most of the way. So, if your heading there with your camera, a cloudy day will work best to avoid all the contrasty highlights and shadows.

At around the 9 mile mark from Banks you enter LL Stub Stewart State Park.

This is a GREAT new state park with everything from your usual tent and RV camp spots, to hike in tent camping, cabins, disc golf and...............Mt bike trails!!!

Yaaaa......

While I enjoyed the ride to the park, ridding paved trails isnt really my thing, and now the dirt trails were calling my name! 

There are around 20 miles of trails to choose from. Fun down hill rides and easy free style jumps are all part of the fun on this well thought out and excellent riding area.

It gets pretty dark in this dense treed canopy, so if your there to shoot some pics, be sure to bring a tripod for the scenics and fast glass for action shots of the bikers

While the ride up was a bit slow with the constant climb, the ride back was quick and easy. I didn't realize how fast I would make it back, and would have stayed at the dirt trails longer had I known the trip down the Mt. would only take me about 25 min, compared to the 2hr ride up. Yes, I really am that out of shape...

Try as a might, I couldn't find a trail map online anywhere, but here is a shot of the trail map they have posted at the campground.

How to get there.

The Banks-Vernonia Trail Starts in Banks but has a few other staging areas, with the Maning trail head just off HWY26 being a great spot to start your ride.

Banks-Vernonia State trail

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=104

LL Stub Stewart Park

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=75

Capturing Trillium Lake

Trillium Lake is one of the most photographed lakes in all the NW.
Easy access to the lake and its close to Portland location make it a very popular destination for lots of people. Add the fact its absolutely beautiful, has great camping and fishing, an incredible view of Mt Hood and a nice 2 mile loop around the lake, and its easy to see why its such a popular spot for photographers and outdoor enthusiasts.

When I have some free time and am looking to get out, have some fun and shoot some new images, Trillium Lake is always high on my list of places to go. The area abounds with natural beauty that rivals anywhere in the country. Even if the Mt is fogged in, you can pretty much point your camera any direction and find a nice shot. All with the added bonus of a nice workout as you hike around the lake or put your kayak in and head out for a paddle.

The trail is a little over 2 miles and is nice and easy. There are plenty of wooden walkways over marshy areas, a dock, some nice views of the lake and some thick forested areas as you make your way around the lake, all offering a variety of photo ops.

       

While I have been their many times over the years, hiking, riding, camping and taking pictures, I had never got out on the lake. Well, now I have done it I am so bummed it took me so long!
Since a lot of people do go to the lake, it can get a bit crowded and kinda loud. But, getting out on the water gets you away from all that. Within a matter of just a few paddles, you start to escape the crowds and really get to focus on the beauty of the lake.

But, while I loved being out on the water, it add's a whole new difficulty to taking photos.
Its hard to frame something up when the kayak is in constant motion, and when you make the slightest movement, it sends ripples out and messes up the mirror reflection of the lake. All can be overcome with patience and practice, but it can get a bit frustrating at times. Plus there is the added threat of tipping over or dropping your expensive, nice and shiny DSLR in the water, so ya gotta be careful!

The last day I was there, I had been out riding all day and pulled up a little before sunset to shoot some stock images before heading home,
While there must have been 2 dozen people standing on the road shooting, all capturing the same shot, I wanted something a bit different and really wanted to use the old dock in the foreground and play off all the mist rising off the water. So, moving along the south edge of the lake, I made my way around to the dock and wadded out into a marshy area. I was in regular shoes and the water was up to my knees, but hey, anything for the shot right!. There were to many bushes in the foreground shooting from the trail so getting a bit wet was the only way to get the shot I wanted. The clouds were moving fast and the light was going away quick so I focused on just getting one good shot, and not shooting a big variety of images like I usually do.

Once the tripod was set and I framed up the scene, I stayed still to keep the ripples to a minimum while standing in the water. I shot a few brackets and then, after I knew I had it, I just sat back and watched in awe at the scene before me. The NW is such a great place to live!
When I got back to the truck and reviewed the images I knew I had something special and couldn't wait to get home and process them.

While the color versions were nice, I really liked this image in BW the best.  It helped to make the mist stand out and give it a little sense of mystery.

How to get there.

Trillium Lake is located about 1 1/2 hr east of Portland off HWY 26, just a few miles past Government camp.
The trail is hiking only, but there are numerous dirt and gravel roads to adventure around on your bike.
Campgrounds fill up quick in the summer, so if your planning more than just a day trip, better plan ahead.

Anatomy of an ad shoot

Hey there everyone.

Been a while since my last report, but finally have some free time and thought you might enjoy this shoot break down from  a few months ago.

Earlier this year I got a call from a trucking company to shoot their promotional calendar. Each year they do a large calendar with an image of their truck somewhere in the NW, since that is there main service area. After a few phone calls with them and looking at their past calendars, I felt I had a good idea of what they were looking for and offered up a few ideas for locations.

After getting a number for their budget, I started brainstorming if it was even doable, and how. Like most smaller companies now a days, they didn't have much to spend, so I had to cut out location scouting and really couldn't have a crew, so shooting the truck on location was out of the question. Permit costs, traffic control, hotels, grip truck, lighting ect all were not possible with their budget. Not a huge problem, just makes it tricky and limits what your able to do. So, given what we had to work with,  shooting the background and striping the truck in later seemed like the best way to go. That way I could do it most all by myself and cut a lot out of the overall cost. They are a great company and the client was super cool to work with so I wasn't worried about the budget. I just needed to work within it as best as possible and hopefully give them a great shot to use for there calendar.

The first thing to think about when looking into a location for the shoot was the size of the truck. What ever background we choose needed a big section of open road and lots of room to get back far with the camera. Having shot hundreds of bike and car ads over the last 20 years, I had a ton of location files to pull from, but very few would work because of the size of the vehicle.

Well, since there was no budget for scouting, picking a location got a little tricky. Just looking at location files and web pics gives you an idea of what the overall look of the location may be, but a semi trick and trailer take up a lot of room and it's really hard to tell if it will work without being there in person. Since we were going to be stripping the truck in later we didn't have to worry about things like bridge weight limits, low overpasses, vehicle length limits, permit issues ect so that part was good.

After doing some research and offering up a few suggestions, a Mt scene was decided on for the background. They were very open to about anywhere I would like to go, and for the most part left it up to me to pick a good spot. Well, around 10 years ago, I had worked on a shoot in the North Cascades and knew of a great shot up the Mt Baker HWY with a view from Picture Lake with  Mt Shuksan in the background. I was shooting ads for Yamaha up there and couldn't remember if a semi would fit on the road? So I started looking online for shots of the lake and the Mt. The problem was, most all the pics out there don't show the road to the left of the lake. Even the Washington film Commission didn't have a shot that showed if there was a road there or not. But, after much looking I ran across a shot online that showed that yes, you could see the road, and it looked like a big enough area for a semi truck.

Once I had seen this I felt the area could work, but was still a little skeptical since there is nothing in the shot to show scale. Without a budget to go up and tech scout it I was a little nervous, but the client lived up close to the area and said he would go check it out. Before he left, I gave him a list of things to check for while he was there.
#1, Compass reading telling me which way the camera would be pointing.
#2, General distance from where the camera would be to the open section of the road.
#3, Record what focal length lens his pics were shot with.
#4, Put his vehicle in the shot so I could get an idea of scale and how big the opening was on the road.
#5, Turn and shoot a wide angle shot of what was behind the camera. That way I could get an idea if there were high Mt's behind, thus telling me if the sun would be going down early and the light leaving the lake.
Since we had already decided to shoot the truck separately and strip it in later, we didn't have to worry about checking out the road for weight, height and length limits.
A week or so later, after the client got back from checking it out, we talked and went over his pics and info. Everything looked and sounded good so I was given the green light and I started making plans for the shoot.

Since Mt Shuksan is about an 8 hr drive from my home in West Linn, weather was my biggest concern. Mt weather is always a big worry on photo shoots, especially when its a scenic shot and pretty much requires a good day with a clear view. I could always strip in a nice sky, I just need to make sure I could see the Mt, and at that high of elevation, you just never know!
So after closely watching the forecast and satellite images for a few days, I woke early one Sat morning, double checked the forecast, packed my gear and headed north.

I will freely admit that I got pretty lucky here. There drive up took WAY longer than expected and I started getting worried I may not make it before the light left the road and the lake, leaving me with a super contrasty scene. That can be overcome with multi exposures, but I wanted to get a good variety of looks, and direct late light on the water and road was something I for sure did not want to miss.

As it turned out, I arrived just in the nick of time. I quickly parked my Jeep, grabbed my gear and ran as fast as I could down to the the edge of the lake. I got set as quickly as possible and fired off a quick bracket, and then just that quickly, the shadow from the Mt behind me came over the road and I lost the direct light. I did get the shot, and it was with the latest light of the day, so I guess I at least saved myself some editing time!

Now the big rush was over, I had lots of time to look around for other shots. The photo was still doable, I just needed to do a wide bracket and layer them together.
Obviously, this next image is way to contrasty in one exposure. The road and area where the truck would be is way to dark. So, shooting off a tripod to keep the camera perfectly still, I shot a wide bracket of exposures to get both the detail in the bright sky and detail in the dark shadows.

Now, having these different exposures, I would be able to layer them together in photoshop to show a scene that would work great for the foreground and the background.

My plan had been to shoot the late light till into the evening then stay the night and shoot sunrise the next morning before heading back home. So after a few hr I ran out of light and headed down the hill for some dinner in Glacier. After some great pizza and live music, I headed back up the Mt and slept in my Jeep in the parking lot by the lake.

I got up an hr or so before sunrise and shot some star trails and fun night exposures for my stock files.

This shot above was in almost total darkness, and with the naked eye, it looked totally clear out with no clouds in site. When the first 30 sec exposure came up on the back of the camera I was really surprised to see all this color. Ever since I had woke up I was thinking it would be a clear and boring sunrise, but this gave me hope. And as luck would have it, it just got better and better. More and more clouds came up from the backside of the Mt just as the sun was coming up. I don't think if I ordered a sunrise it could have been any more amazing than the one I was getting. A few 5 stop brackets from 2 different locations, and I new I had a shot my client would be really happy with.

 

And here is the final sample blended image with nice soft morning light on the road for the truck.

                                     

Similar to what I had the client do weeks before, I took some notes before I left to make sure I had all the info needed. That way when it came time to shoot the truck, everything would look just right and I could make the strip look seemless.

#1, Color card the changing light while I shot so I had something to go off of when color matching the truck shot later.
#2, Camera and road hight. This was somewhat easy as I was pretty much level with the road so I just needed a camera hight. If there was much of a hight difference I would need to adjust for that later when shooting the truck. If I shot to high or to low then the final striped shot would not look real.
#3, Lens focal length.
#4, Compas reading
#5, Camera info. That info is embeded in the image, but I always write it down anyway. Just a little old school I guess.
#6, Distance to the road. This part was tricky as I couldn't just pace it off, what with the water and all. So  I made a guess as to the distance, but more importantly, I parked my Jeep on the road where I felt the truck would go. Then I shot an image from each of the locations and each focal length I had used. That way I would have something good to use as a scale when I set up the semi later.

Next up, the semi.

Well, first thing is finding an area thats REALLY big...... and flat..........and open!
I had a few ideas from past shoots over the years around the Portland area, and set out one day to check them out. A few I felt could almost work, but the areas were just not quite big enough, or didn't have open areas facing the light to make it work correctly. Another area would have worked great for the light, but there were to many things around to worry about reflections in the side of the truck. So after a few calls and some more brainstorming, I came up with a great spot, and it was even free. They had a huge parking area that was very seldom used, it was pretty level, and I could angle the truck perfect to match the light I needed for the direct light strip. The other two were not near as critical since the light was so soft, but the direct light shot needed to be really close to make it work right.

So after running out one day to tech scout it (always a good idea when shooting something so large) we set it up for the next day when the weather was looking good.
I arrived plenty early this time and set up the camera and used traffic cones to section off  the angle and area where truck would be. This was a huge benefit since the driver was over an hr late. But since I had got there early and had all my info from the background shoot, we were able to pull him right into place and start shooting within minutes.

When I started shooting, I slowly worked my way from a profile view to the front of the truck, shooting about every 10 feet or so as I went. This way I would be able to match up the exact angle I would need for the road later. This is really important because if the angle of the truck was off just a little, it would look like it was not sitting correctly on the road. Always better to have to many options than not enough.

After the sun went down and I felt we had both direct and soft light from the parking lot, we moved out to the access road to shoot another setup. While the light here was great, I couldn't get back as far without getting the grass coming up into the tires. So I went as far as I could, knowing this was just a bonus set up.

Now I had everything I needed.
A good variety of backgrounds and trucks to strip. Each with the correct lighting, distance, focal length and angles.
After the client picked their favorite background, the rest was somewhat simple. The multi exposures were layered together and the truck was lined out and color corrected. Then we just layered it into the shot and added a reflection.

After the final file was sent to the client, the designer laid out the calendar and it went to press.
Just got mine in the mail the other day and now have it hanging on the wall in my office. I am really happy the way it turned out.

How to get there.

The Mt Baker HWY and Mt Shuksan are located about 2 hr east of Bellingham Wa.
The upper parts of the HWY and the road to artist point are some of the most scenic areas I have ever been to in the entire country. The views are amazing and truly must been seen for your self to really understand the beauty and wonder of the area. An absolute must do for anyone who loves the outdoors, photography, hiking and climbing.

A foggy day at Saddle Mt

Well, after many a failed attempt, I finally got out to hike the Saddle Mt trail near the Oregon Coast last weekend. Weather and free time always seemed to be an issue, but last weekend it all worked out.

While I did want to see the view offered from the summit, I was just as interested in shooting the forest, flowers and trails as well. So a simple clear and sunny day was not what I had in mind.
So, keeping a close eye on the forecast, I headed out on a free Sunday when the forecast was for fog and clouds in the morning and sun breaks in the afternoon.

Ya, I know its the NW, so good luck with that right! But hay, it's kinda like the lottery. If you don't by a ticket, you got no chance to win.

So like usual, dark and early, I was loaded up with my rain gear and camera and headed towards the coast.

As luck would have it, the weather turned out about perfect. It never really rained on me the whole day, and while it never totally cleared off, I did get a few peaks of the coast through the quickly changing mist and fog.

The hike up is pretty steep, gaining about 1,700 feet elevation in under 3 miles, and really slippery in lots of places. If you have them, bring along some trek poles. I brought mine and am really glad I did! Just walking with a totally rebuilt right side is hard enough some days, but hiking up a steep and slippery trail with a load of camera gear would have been brutal for me without trek poles.

Once on the trail, the mist and
fog was really nice. It added such
a great mood to the forest.

At about the half way point, you come out of the trees and hit some really nice open hillsides, which i'm sure, on clear days would offer spectacular views. I was loving the look of the fog so I wasn't to worried about the view, and just kept shooting as I slowly moved my way up the Mt.

As you get higher up, there are some neat old sections of trail that they route you around, and they offered some great photo ops.

I liked having something man made up there to incorporate into the photograph.

It offered a little variety from the usual scenic shot.

As you near the top, the landscape offers a little of everything. There are lots of wild flowers, grassy hills, open views and big cliff drop offs. 

A tip for those that are afraid of highs, you may want to forget this hike. While not to bad, there are a few places that could freak someone out. 

When I reached the summit, the mist cleared off for a few minutes and I was able to see to the coast. And while i'm happy it did, i'm also glad it only lasted a few minutes, because when it cleared up, the area lost all it's mystery. I had really liked not knowing what was out there and felt the images would be more powerful if they held that mystery as well. So, I was really pleased when the mist rolled back in thicker than ever. It just gave the area this quality of drama that a clear sky never could. 

How to get there.....

Saddle Mt is located near Cannon Beach, about 1 1/2 hr west of Portland OR,

off of HWY 26. Take lots of water and trek polls if you have them. And unless your in great shape, pack light on the camera gear.

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_197.php

http://www.nwhiker.com/SaddleMtHikes.html

A long day in the Gifford Pinchot

Just before winter hit last year, I loaded up my bike and some cameras and headed to the Gifford Pinchot NF for what was sure to be the last high altitude Mt ride of the year.

Weather forecast showed a huge storm coming in later that night and the weather man had promised a few feet of snow in the Cascades. I had the day off and was itching to ride and shoot some pics, so by 5am I was all loaded up and on the road.

Having ridden and hiked in this area many times before, I was really looking forward to heading back. The Gifford Pinchot / Mt Adams area is such a beautiful place. The trails run across many hi ridges with amazing views, and there are also quite a few lakes for camping and fishing. In the middle of summer the misquotes are brutal, but come Fall, you would be hard pressed to find a more peaceful, scenic place anywhere in the country.

After about a 2 1/2 hr drive from my home in West Linn, I made it to my staging area for the day at

"Lower Lewis River Falls"

As soon as I arrived, I grabbed my camera and headed down to the falls, hoping to get there before the sun got to high and the hard contrast ruined the shot.

The falls can be shot from many angles, as the trail offers lots of different views, but this location was my favorite. The surrounding trees and bushes really help to frame the falls and add some nice depth to the image.

While I for sure wanted to get some ridding in, photography was my main focus for the day. So I continued to shoot around this area for a little while. But once the sun came up, I packed up a pretty full load of camera gear, along with a tripod into my backpack, hopped on my bike and headed for the hills.

The motorcycle trails in the Mt Adams area offer about as good of riding as anywhere in the country. The trails are steep and at times very difficult and dangerous, but you are reworded with scenery on a grand scale. Which of course, is why I chose to go there. Great ridding along with amazing scenery makes for a happy adventure photographer!

My plan for the day had me leaving the falls and heading East to a nice viewpoint near Sunrise Peak, and then even more East to Takhlakh Lake. I would be hitting a mixture of roads and trails and planned on getting to the Lake a little before sunset, so if the conditions were good, I could get in some nice late light shots of the Mt.

Well, right off I realized I had to change my plain a bit. I was ridding solo and had quite a load of gear, so hitting some of the expert trails was not going to be such a good idea, especially with a major storm coming in later that night. So, after hitting a few of the lower easier trails, I stuck mostly to the back country roads and zig zagged my way over to Sunrise.

Pulling off the twisty gravel road and onto trail #262, there is a really nice steep section of single track that travels about a mile up through the trees and pops you out on the side of a cliff, rewarding you with an amazing view of Mt Adams.

Once there, I shot this and a few other stock images, then figured I better get moving if I wanted to get down to Takhlakh Lake before sunset.

I arrived a little later than I had hoped, and as I pulled up to the lake, the sky and the Mt were already bathed in a beautiful late light. There were some really nice clouds and the light on the Mt was amazing.

But, I new the light would be gone quick, so I didn't waist any time. I grabbed my gear, headed to the edge of the lake and shot a few images right away that didn't need any setup. I didn't want to miss out on the nice light and figured something simple would be better than nothing.

Once I new I had a few good shots in the bag, it was time to set up the shot I had planned on all along, but was already a bit late for when I first arrived. I had all the gear I needed, but by getting there a little late, I new it would require a little photoshop trickery later in post. Not to be fooled by mother nature, I went straight to work.

First off, I needed to set it up quick and get a shot off while there was still a little light on the trees and nice light on the Mt. With the camera on a tripod, I shot the dark exposures first so I didn't loose the light, and bracketed in 1/3 stops with the shutter speed. It's important when creating a layered image this way that you use the shutter speed, not the aperture for the exposure bracket. Changing the aperture can cause the multiple images to not aline correctly.

As you can see here, since I arrived a bit late and the sun was gone from the foreground, there was a massive exposure difference between the foreground and the background. So, once I had the dark exposure for the sky and the Mt, I then shot a much lighter exposure for me, the bike and the campground. Again, I shot in 1/3 stop brackets so I could later pick the best exposures to blend together.

Once I felt I had all the exposures I needed, I packed up and headed back to the truck. It was a long cold ride but I was excited to get off the Mt before the storm hit. Plus, I couldn't wait to get back and create the final image from all the exposures I had made. I new it would take a little while at the computer, but I felt the final image could be really nice.

Back home, I opened up a few different light and dark exposures in

onOne software's "Perfect Layers". 

I was quickly able to blend the images together and come up with a final image that, while on location, my eyes could see, but just simply could not be captured in one exposure.

Then once I had the base image done, I went in and stylized it a bit with some saturation and contrast to give it a little punch, then added a simple border to frame it up nice. Overall, I was really happy with the day and the images I came back with were a nice addition to my stock files.

How to get there......

The "Lower Lewis River Falls" is located on HWY 90 (FS90) about 1 1/2 hr east of Woodland WA.

There is a nice campground there and its a great spot to stage for motorcycle trails (trail #80) as well as great Mt biking and hiking on the Lewis River Trail.

http://www.lewisriver.com/falls.html

Takhlakh Lake is about another hr or so further east off of NF23

http://www.recreation.gov/camping/Takhlakh_Lake_Campground/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=71647&topTabIndex=Search

The Sunrise Peak Trail #262 is another hr, and a bit farther north of the lake off NF23

http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/giffordpinchot/recreation/ohv/recarea/?recid=31426&actid=93