Silver Falls

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squirl033

Super Moderator
Staff member
went down to Mt. Rainier today, looking for waterfalls. this time of year, there are plenty of them, and the water's running high. here's Silver Falls... helped along with a bit of HDR... ;) 5D, 24-135 @ 35mm, 1/2 sec @ f/20 with polarizer...

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That is really interesting!! I really like the hardness of the two rocky sides verses the long exposure water effects. That is amazing. Wow! :D

Question though (and I truly hope you don't mind my asking) - Did you use an HDR software on the sky area? There is some haloing I am not used to seeing in your photos.
 
That is really interesting!! I really like the hardness of the two rocky sides verses the long exposure water effects. That is amazing. Wow! :D

Question though (and I truly hope you don't mind my asking) - Did you use an HDR software on the sky area? There is some haloing I am not used to seeing in your photos.

Thanks, Leia... yes, i did a bit of HDR on this one, and couldn't quite hit that happy medium between proper exposure and "no halo"... then again, it was kind of a quick-n-dirty job...
 
Inspired by Rocky, I stopped by Silver Falls today. The water levels have receeded a bit since his shot, but they're still running pretty good. The lighting was just OK, as it was a grey and overcast day. The intense blue color of the water is pretty cool. (No, I didn't boost it in post, it really is that blue! I don't know what causes that color, certainly not the sky reflecting or it would have been grey.)

Thanks for the idea Rocky, and as they say "Imitation is the sincerest type of flattery". My shot's a bit different, but there's no denying your photo inspired it. You apparently inspired lots of others as well, the trail was packed with people lugging cameras. Never knew so many folks read the forum! ;)

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I am going to have to go north one of these days. However, I am missing the desert so much my next vacation is going to be much more to the south.

Maybe next year I can see these falls in person. Is April a good time for them???
 
April may be too early, I don't think the road is open yet, due to snow. Stevens Pass Road opened on Memorial Day weekend this year, I'm not sure when Chinook Pass opened, but it was probably early May?
 


Thanks, Bob. I usually take a loong weekend in April for a trip. Maybe might need to put it off to June next year. You guys have some beautiful spots up there.
 
Rainier can be tricky Leia... Typically August or even September is the best time to visit. Even June is early, or July for that matter. Then again, the falls run best in the spring, due to snowmelt. But that's pretty much the exception, the weather and scenery get better in late summer, with wildflowers blooming etc.

Today is a perfect example. The plan was to hike to High Rock lookout. Since we'd have had a wonderful view of... clouds, that trip was postponed. We went up the East Side instead, hunting waterfalls.

Here's what Chinook Pass looks like today:

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Plan on hiking? Bring your snowshoes, or at least climbing boots.

(I was trying for a shot that showed how those clouds were flowing through the trees like water. What I got was, well, that... Aside from showing how crappy the weather was, pretty much a waste of pixels.)
 
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PS - Just to show how Rainier works... When we drove past High Rock and Beljica, the mountain was totally socked in, you could not see any of it. So we headed for home. At 9:00 as we headed out for the fireworks, the mountain was visible, not a cloud in the sky, and it was the gorgeous pink color photographers drowl over.

Rainier is, always, unpredictable.
 


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