The Flickr Homesalonglake Image Generatr

There was something about this view as I stood along the shoreline of Mirror Lake! Having just left “flatland” in Texas a few hours prior, this was an amazing view with the mountains all around. Sunlight and shadows stretched across the ridgelines, cuts, draws, peaks, and even the nearby lake.

To capture this image, I went with a more balanced composition for this setting, letting the far lakeshore act as that dividing line, with a little more of the big mountains filling up the upper portion of the image. I found that “mean exposure” for the shutter speed as I metered this image. I was then able to work with control points and color control points in Capture NX2 to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted. I added a Polarization and Sunshine CEP filter to give that little bit extra for the final image.

As I walked up to the shoreline at Mirror Lake just outside of Anchorage, I’d been drawn to the mountains all around with the sun slowly coming up that Saturday morning. It was a few seconds, maybe a minute, before I turned to the east and noticed this with the mountain and ridgeline and its reflections on the lake waters. Wow! So while composing the image was a matter of lining the mountain and reflections, metering the image required a lot more work, especially with the sun shining away. I knew I didn’t want to blow any highlights with the sun and that area. I also wanted to minimize light artifacts across my lens. And then there was the more shadowed areas and pulling out realistic colors. I found a spot I could meter the shutter speed and then let it be. I later worked with control points and color control points in Capture NX2 to bring out the contrast, saturation and brightness I wanted. I then added a Foliage and Sunshine CEP filter to give that little bit extra for the final image.

A view along the shore of Lake Chelan near the North Cascades Lodge at Stehekin. In the distance are ridges of the North Methow Mountains range with Rainbow Mountain and Tupshin Peak; McGregor Mountain is a little further back and slightly hidden in the clouds.

A conversion to black & white using Capture NX2 where I used some color filters to bring out a much richer tonal contrast for the final image.

Having captured several images at this overlook along the Imus Creek Loop, I decided to use this and work on a black & white image in Silver Efex Pro 2. I was to use some color filters to bring out a much richer tonal contrast for the final image.

...and a Mountain Backdrop. A view looking to the northwest while waiting for a bus ride to head further north into the national recreation area and national park. I wanted to capture that look across the lake waters with the sunlight bringing out that light blue color during those early morning hours. Nearby are some boats docked from the previous night, while far off were towering mountains with some blue skies and clouds.

An overlook and clearing in the tall evergreen trees while hiking the Imus Creek Loop before it intersects and heads up the Purple Creek Trail. While I'd seen similar views to this along the lakeshore the past two days, but up about 1000' higher, it gave for amazing views! This is a view looking to the northwest in the North Cascades National Park Service Complex with McGregor Mountain on one side and mountainsides of Tupshin Peak and Sisi Ridge on the other. While capturing a wider angle might have brought out that visual feel for this mountain valley setting, I decided to zoom and and focus on this one area with its primary, complementary colors of blue and green. I later used some CEP filters (Low Key, Polarization and Graduated Neutral Density) in Capture NX2 which seemed to best bring out this look even with the bright sunlight of the late morning.