Mailbox Peak. Snoqualmie

For the first time I decided not to bring my DSLR with on a hiking trip.   It was more or less a decision about weight.   Did I want to pack a 24-70 L series lens up to Mailbox?  No, not really.    So, I took along my smart phone and decided to do a post with B&W Instagram photos.     Simple and square, a new way of viewing the area.   I tried to take only a few frames of each image to practice good composition and light selection.  Luckily, the weather produced some beautiful clouds to work with the gradation from black to white.     

This quick day project was a good exercise in using what I had to make some beautiful images.   Did I miss my DSLR? Yes, for two reasons: the variability with focus and exposure control were both difficult to work with.   All in all, a pretty wonderful day.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by a lovely lady whose name I cannot remember.  

A splash of color just for good measure.  

PayScale Movember - Before

For my Dad and brothers, friends and lovers.   Movember



PayScale, the company I work for, participates each year in Movember.   This year the team is the PayStachios.  

Each member of the team is fundraising for the fight against testicular cancer.   As they raise funds, they grow a mustache during the month of November.   These are the before pictures.   The photos were taken in our lunch area against the PayScale red wall with beautiful Seattle rainy day side lighting.     No portrait studio setup needed.  

If you are interested in donating, you can view the team here:  http://us.movember.com/team/500581

Patrick Lowndes - Account Executive

Ryan Moore - Research Analyst, Ginger

Brian Steel - Social Media Manager

Adam Phillabaum - Senior Program Manager *Team Captain

John Lynch - Systems Administrator

Blake Martin - Account Executive

Jon Lanman - Manager of Demand Generation

Chris Schave - Account Executive II

Finn Andersen - Senior Account Executive

Brian Wallace - Account Executive II

Mark Phair - Software Engineer

Alex D'Angelo - Senior Software Engineer

Jordan Beherndt - Account Executive

 

Joining this year as a Mo'Sista

Kaylyn Messer - Account Manager  (Photo by: Chris Schave)

(Photo by: Chris Schave)

Colchuck Lake - Overnight backpacking trip 9/15/2012

My good friend Ben Blood received an overnight permit for the Enchantments in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area.   The camping permit was for the Colchuck Lake zone.   He invited me to join his party.   We seven made our way up to Colchuck and spent the day hiking, jumping in the lake and taking photographs.    We hiked out early the next day as a forest fire had picked up on a nearby ridge and was moving in the direction of our parked cars.     The smoke created some interesting and beautiful light during our overnight trip.  

As we were hiking a forest fire started on the ridge behind us.  

Colchuck Lake.   We arrived at the campsite.

Vanja Horonic

Smoke from the nearby fire began to grow throughout the evening. 

Ben Blood

Arie Voorman and the geologist magnifying glass. 

Dinner

Roald Chetty

Sunset.

The smoke created a beautiful drifting swatch of color across the sky.  

Throughout the night the reflection of the fire painted an amber hue across the 30 second star exposures.   This is one of the brighter frames from the night.  

An example of what the scene looked like when the fire died down.  

collecting water

The growth of the forest fire

The hazy sky provided soft fall lighting even around 1pm in the afternoon.