Mount Rainier Wildflowers - 3

scole

Part 3 of 3..

To end my day, I decided to head up to the general Paradise area but specifically to Mazama Ridge. This was my first visit to it so I quickly found out that it wasn't quite what I had visualized. I had to go further up the ridge to reach more open terrain for photos with Mount Rainier.

Since I spent too much time at Chinook Pass, I got to Reflection Lake kinda late so I was rushing up the trail to find somewhere to shoot. In general, conditions still seem about a week away from prime. There were some tremendous sections in glorious bloom but lots that was still coming up and preparing to bloom..

1. Moonrise over the Tatoosh Range and Louise Lake


2. First great display of wildflowers on Mazama Ridge


3.


4.


5.


At about 9pm, I reached the end of the road and finally some more open terrain. It will be better in a week's time in this area. Unfortunately, I rushed things at this point and the photos looked nice in the field but not as good once I was home..

6.


7.


8. Sunset wasn't all that special and since I was rushing things, the sky is kinda blown out in this one..


Thanks for looking..

dlplumer

Beautiful series of wildflowers.

dsm02c

great shots!

coscorrosa

Nice series (all 3!). I really like #5 in this series, beautiful. #6 would be great too if not for the slight lupin movement in the foreground. I really like #8 too. You're right that you need to see the flowers in person to get a full appreciation.

I haven't been to Mazama Ridge yet, it's on my list for this year, these photos give me good incentive. Plus it's a little more low key than Paradise.

thapamd

Another great set, Steve. You were very productive on this trip, I see.

dseidman

They're all nice -- especially the wildflower shots. However, I'd prefer that if in those images you could lower the saturation in just the greens but leave the rest as is. I think that would really help in creating a more natural look.

I hope you don't mind me post this but here's an example of what I would have done with #2.

scole

Thanks for the comments, Danny. Critical comments are just as important as praise or kudos. Since I'm now several days removed from taking the photos, I can't really say which direction the green color should go (my end or yours).

What I can tell you is that I did no color correction on my photos. I did look at the different WB settings in my RAW files but that was it. I'll admit that my saturation setting is a tick right of neutral.

Anyways, good food for thought. Thanks!

Steve

bhogle

scole wrote:

What I can tell you is that I did no color correction on my photos. I did look at the different WB settings in my RAW files but that was it. I'll admit that my saturation setting is a tick right of neutral.

Steve

I don't find the greens unnatural looking. I see that some look a bit saturated when compared with the all the photos here. I could go either way easily. Good work.

dseidman

scole wrote:

Thanks for the comments, Danny. Critical comments are just as important as praise or kudos. Since I'm now several days removed from taking the photos, I can't really say which direction the green color should go (my end or yours).

What I can tell you is that I did no color correction on my photos. I did look at the different WB settings in my RAW files but that was it. I'll admit that my saturation setting is a tick right of neutral.

Anyways, good food for thought. Thanks!

Steve

It could just be a matter of taste. I felt that the green was a little overpowering and as a result detracted from those beautiful wildflowers. I know from my experiences that getting weird colors on camera can be pretty common. We just see things differently with our eyes.

Of course you get to make the call on this but I felt it was worth throwing in another opinion.

scole

No worries, Danny!

bryanj87

Lovely shots. I really like the last one.