The new issue of Backpacker is out, and I am pleased to announce that I have the cover image!  One funny note, though, after they chose this image for the cover they asked me if they could change the yelow fall colored larch trees back to green since this would be a summer issue.  If a publisher is going to pay me, I really do not mind what they need to do to my photos to make it work.  Next time I might offer to make the color change for them, as I think they just grabbed the Yellow Saturation slider and moved the overall Hue towards Green.  How does it compare to my original image to you?

I just found out that I will have the June cover of Backpacker! The image is of Prusik Peak reflected in Gnome Tarn during the fall when the larches turn a golden yellow. I created this image in September 2005, after my 3rd hike up into the Enchantments to capture the reflection. It is not an easy hike to get up there, but when I have gone I prefer the “shorter” route over Asgard Pass from Colchuck Lake. I don’t mind the elevation gain as much as I do the elevation loss hiking back down the Snow Creek trail. Ouch on my knees! I used my Pentax 67II, 55mm lens, Singh-Ray 3-stop Soft GND filter, Fuji Velvia 50 film, and a tripod.

I just took a repeat client on a week long backpacking photography workshop into the North Cascades. Nick really wanted to do a long backpacking trip with a spectacular photography location at the end. I decided to take him to Tapto Lakes above Whatcom Pass deep in the North Cascades. It is almost 20 miles one-way in to the lakes. We took a few days to hike in with incredibly large packs including 2 cameras each and a weeks supply of food. Last Sunday, we got a break in the weather and the wind stopped blowing long enough to shoot a pretty nice reflection image of Whatcom Peak in the late afternoon light. The next day, we decided to try and do the entire hike out in 1 day. We succeeded in doing all 19 miles in just over 11 hours, but we were exhausted and unable to walk the next day! My future backpacking photography workshops will not involve quite as much hiking.

Please visit more of my North Cascades National Park Photography.

I spent an afternoon at Wallace Falls last week. It is a nice hike, that is best done during the week when nobody else is there. This is the time of year to start looking for those beautiful mossy green rainforest images on a cloudy day. This is the image that I got for my effort. Also, if you are a regular visitor to my site, you might have noticed that I have been updating it and adding some new pages. I hope that you enjoy the new work.

Please visit my Nature Photography Workshops page to learn more about my private photography workshops or visit my Central Cascades Photography page to see more of my images from Washington’s Cascade mountain range.

Landscape Category – Honorable Mention (2nd Place) – I am proud to announce that 5 of my images have been selected to be part of the 2007 EPI. This image of the fog parting over the Sauk River with crepuscular rays was taken from a Cesna 172 with the window open in October 2006. I could see this scene unfolding as the sun came up, and by the time that the pilot had gotten the plane into position, the fog was evaporating quickly. I got this shot on the first pass, and by the time we came around for a second run, all the fog had disappeared. It was a spectacular moment.