Mount Shasta Views

[CNelson]

I'm back from my month-long visit to the north state (California) and thought I'd share a few shots I got when I drove to the "other" side of the mountain to get some shots as the sun set on Mt. Shasta. I didn't get the colors I was hoping for, every sunset is different, but I find consolation in the fact that I fed thousands of mosquitoes who greeted me with enthusiasm.

I parked in a narrow pull-out on a country road and hiked up and down the road for about a mile to make these shots. It was a very hot summer afternoon and my deoderant failed me far short of the promised 24-hour protection....but I loved it.

Chuck

#1



#2



#3



#4



#5 Not a Shasta shot but same area taking advantage of the "golden hour."

[epmi314]

They are all really wonderful images. The first is my favorite quite stunning.

[CNelson]

Thanks Scott....I cropped it for a 10x20 print. That aspect ratio works with a lot of images.

Chuck

[KHarmon]

All are amazing but #1 and #4 are my favorites. Very nice work!!!

KHarmon

[Stinky]

Great images! Great part of the country! Very nice

[GeorgeM]

Wonderful shots! 1 is my favorite. Very nice work.

[kaneohebud]

Chuck:
Loved them all. I went to school at Chico State for a while many years ago so your pics brought back memories. Everything is very sharp. What gear were you using?

[Dizzy]

Beautiful images Chuck..looks almost like you could just step into one and start hiking across the fields..

I haven't seen Shasta in years, but it is great to see there is still ample snow left on top after a hot Summer. Drought is over, perhaps?

[dje]

Lovely shots Chuck. You guys in the US are so lucky to have such wonderful mountain scenery. Sounds like you put in the hard yards to get these shots but it was well worth it.

Dave

[KeithH]

A lovely sequence of shots Chuck

[Harpo]

Great shots Chuck! I used to live in Sacramento, its sometimes hard to get the optimal lighting to get a good pic of Mt Shasta.

[Donald]

Lovely landscape work, Chuck.

Differing a bit (but not much) from the views that others have expressed, I'd like to highlight this one (#3). The contrast on the mountain and in the sky is not as pronounced as in the others identified by folk above (and maybe it needs to be, just a bit), but in terms of composition and a balanced, harmonious image, this is the one for me. I think it works just beautifully.

That couple of tall trees surrounded by the lower level bush down towards the bottom left, and the way the light is picked up on them, act as a wonderful counter-balance to the mountain and give the whole left-hand side of the image a role and purpose that it wouldn't otherwise have had (for example, compare the light on the left-hand tree in #2 with that on #3. Doesn't come near it).

There is beautiful light and shadow not only on the foreground grass, but also on the trees in the middle-ground - just enough to pick them up and make sure they serve as the perfect foundation on which to sit the mountain and the sky (compare the light on these trees with that on the middle-ground trees in #4). And the way which we lose the detail on the trees in the back of the middle-ground and they start to fade, gives us a wonderful sense of depth (look at #1 & #2 - those trees at the back of the middle-ground are showing more detail and are closing the image up).

And all of that comes together to give me the sense of a 'whole' and complete scene, moreso than the others which feel a bit as if there are various 'bits' making up the image; i.e. grass, tress, mountain, clouds, sky. #3 just feels right. It all comes together. Can't explain my thoughts any better than that.

[SpiderBob]

Great pictures, I really enjoy looking at them. I do like 1 the best for the mountain composition and lighting, but as Donald said, 4 is the the one that puts me in awe, I feel like I'm experiencing the actual view.

[Shadowman]

All are very stunning images.

[CNelson]

Thank you one and all for your generous comments. Donald, I see what you see and appreciate your observations. I was in the area for several hours as the sun was lowering in the sky and was at the mercy of sun and clouds for optimal lighting. It was sort of a prolonged golden hour.

Bud, I was using a Canon 5D MK II with two L glass lenses...the 24-105 and 70-200 2.8 lens. I also used a tripod and cable release...this left one hand free to swat mosquitoes.

Chuck

[Lon Howard]

Thank you for posting these beautiful photos, Chuck. They remind me of the ones I took (well, tried to anyway ... ) from the freeway going by there last year, and show that you really do have to go off the beaten path to get good photos of Mt. Shasta. The mountain is always pretty but with the meadows in there, it gives real life to the whole scene. I will also go along with Donald about #3, for the reasons he stated, and do thank him for his insights about how to look at an image.

The photos also reminded me that (for me, anyway) trees are a very tricky element to manage in an image. In and of themselves, they are not very compelling when shown as a forest, especially the evergreens we have in the Pacific Northwest, and it's easy to give them too much emphasis. You've handled that issue very well. Thanks again for posting.

[Pjerry]

Hi Chuck,

What a lovely pictures you've got here. They (David) are jealous in Australia, even though they got a wonderful nature there. What about The Netherlands, our highest `mountain` is 321 meters (about 1000 feet).

Than we've got Donald:

Can't explain my thoughts any better than that.

After he has giving a perfect analyses. Things the most feel but by far can't explain. He writes it down with an ease......
I felt that too, my favorite is #3. But I wasn't able to analyze that so thoroughly (learned a lot about looking at...)

Thanks for sharing.

Pierre

[CNelson]

Thanks all once again for the kind words. They mean much when coming from people I admire for their own work. I know I was blessed to grow up in the shadow of Mount Shasta...here's the view I had growing up on a ranch about 15 miles from the mountain...it's a composite of 3 shots and I print it at 1' by 4'...if you could zoom in on it you would see 2 bald eagles in a tree on the far side of the lake...they are duck hunting. This lake was about 100 yards below the ranch house. It's no wonder the mountain was imprinted on me and I never cease trying to capture it's many moods and looks.

[kaneohebud]

Beautiful. I've always loved that area!

[JohnC]

Wonderful-Uplifting-Stunning.Worth every drop of that sweat getting them and mail the company re. the deoderant