2020 "Snaps" Around Glacier National Park

[llholmes1948]

Pete,
I enjoyed your Huckleberry Mountain video very much and thanks for posting it.
Perhaps you mentioned it, but about how much of the trail was not in snow?
Lyman

[crh24]

Thanks for sharing Pete. Yesterday didn't look so nice, watching your video. I'll have to look through old posts to see how you came across Bonnie, and how she became comfortable with you. Regarding the rainy day, I also look at the GNP webcams, and it generally looks like it has been raining the past two weeks.

Your pano is beautiful. I am a bit of neophyte when it comes to photography. First thought that went through my head, other than enjoying your photo, was, "gosh, I wonder how many megabytes that picture is?"

[PeteE]

Pete,
I enjoyed your Huckleberry Mountain video very much and thanks for posting it.
Perhaps you mentioned it, but about how much of the trail was not in snow?
Lyman

Thanks Lyman!
The snow began about 1/2-3/4 mile before the pass.
The trail is 6.0 miles and so about last half was snow covered.
Most of the snow before the pass may have melted by now, but the snow on the north side will be there until spring.

Craig:
Yeah the files are pretty big.
The full size file for that last image on the previous page is about 96 megabytes.
The file for the picture posted on the previous page is less than 1 megabyte.

Some may wonder why I make these huge images.
One reason is because I like making big panographic images.
They are a good way to illustrate the HUGE vistas that exist in Glacier Park.
A more practical reason is that if you want to make big "paper" prints you need to have all those pixels for a sharp image.
An image from an iPhone looks great on a monitor, and it'll make a decent 8x10, maybe up to 16x20...
But if you try to make a BIG print, like24, 36, 48 inch print, or larger, it'll look like crap.
That last image I posted will almost surely make a print 9-10 feet long and 30 inches wide....and still be sharp.

pete

PS
I've been photographing Bonnie and Clyde since 2013.
Here are the last images I have of Clyde. Made June 8th 2020.
30 second video from same day
https://photos.smugmug.com/Glacier-Park ... 1-1920.mp4

I generally don't see either of them very often, if at all through the summer when Lake McDonald Lodge is crowded.
Then I begin seeing them again in September/October.
But no Clyde this fall.

He's a handsome fellow isn't he?


The picture above is a crop from this shot. It was raining lightly and he fluffed his feathers for me.


Clyde's favorite place to perch was on my side mirror March 15th 2020


Ms Bonnie on the same day. She's not looking away.
Ravens, and many birds, turn their head like this to "stare" at something, or someone.

[llholmes1948]

Hi Pete,

That is indeed a great photo of Clyde. I hope that he will surprise you and show up one of these days.

Regarding the Huckleberry Lookout hike, if I recall correctly it took you 5 hours from the trailhead to the Lookout with the snow conditions on the trail. Just curious but how long do you think this trail would have taken under dry conditions in the summer? I assume you have done this hike in the summer but maybe not.

Thanks,
Lyman

[PeteE]

Hi Pete,

That is indeed a great photo of Clyde. I hope that he will surprise you and show up one of these days.

Regarding the Huckleberry Lookout hike, if I recall correctly it took you 5 hours from the trailhead to the Lookout with the snow conditions on the trail. Just curious but how long do you think this trail would have taken under dry conditions in the summer? I assume you have done this hike in the summer but maybe not.

Thanks,
Lyman

Hi Lyman

Funny about the hiking time.
I hiked up Huckleberry June 16th 2019.
Time stamps on photos indicated I started at 7:40AM(pic at the trailhead sign)
And I arrived at the lookout at about noon.
Total time for hike that day was 8 hours. Got down about 3:30PM.
Took me longer this year to get down because I guess I was tired.

You have to remember that 1) I ain't too speedy anymore, and 2) I stop a lot for pics and video.
It's an all day hike for me. It's not difficult though as the elevation gain is never steep.
Take all the water you need. There is no water sources on that trail.
Both trips I spent around an hour at the lookout.

pete

[davidwayne]

Pete, great pics and videos as always, to keep giving us flatlanders a taste of Glacier when we cant be there. I was scrolling through the thread and saw the raven pics and my heart picked up a beat as I thought of the return of B and C. Oh man, hopefully Clyde shows up. If not, just another reminder that 2020 sucks........

[PeteE]

We had a early winter storm come through last night. Here at my apartment it looks like we got 4-5 inches.
After shoveling snow at work, I rode out to the park to look around. I wish I had gone back home and got my A77 but I didn't.
I didn't have a tripod so I shot all these hand held at ISO 100 with my Sony a6000 with my wide angle Sigma f1.4 16mm prime lens.
Most of these images were shot at fairly slow shutter speeds. 1/15 or 1/20 second
So I was pretty happy with how they turned out.

10 minute video from the trip. Most of it is clips of the creek---and no yakking by me on the creek clips.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-kZx ... M-1920.mp4



This is the only one I cropped(16x9) The rest are all "full frame". Very little editing other than choosing "auto" when converting the RAW files to "DNG" files. All I did then was apply some degree of "haze removal" . I may crop some other later.
f9.5 at 1/20 sec


f11 at 1/20 sec


f11 at 1/15 sec


f16 at 1/20 sec


f11 at 1/15 sec


I deliberately put that tree branch in the frame. I like how it kinda covers up the boring background on the other side of the creek
Plus the larger branches point towards key parts of the creek...well sorta
Anyway **I** like this composition which is all that matters, right?
f11 at 1/15 sec


I made this shot at 1/60 of a second. I wanted to show a little "action" in the water and not have the water really blurred out.
f6.7 at 1/60 sec


I may have tried to include too much in this one. I wanted Mt Cannon in it as well as the creek.
OK for a "snap shot" I guess...
f16 at 1/20 sec

[ND]

Pretty good water motion considering you hand held at such slow shutter speeds.
Yes, I watch both of the guys you mentioned on YouTube. I agree Fototripper makes great videos for entertainment purposes. Very funny!
I've wondered why so many of the photo videos are done by guys from across the pond.

[PeteE]

Pretty good water motion considering you hand held at such slow shutter speeds.
Yes, I watch both of the guys you mentioned on YouTube. I agree Fototripper makes great videos for entertainment purposes. Very funny!
I've wondered why so many of the photo videos are done by guys from across the pond.

Thanks Ken. Yeah, it's all the more remarkable that the focus was good since that camera doesn't have "steady shot" image stabilization with that manual Sigma lens. Plus it was pretty chilly, around 20F. Thankfully no wind up in the gorge area.

The wind has dropped and the sky is clearing out this evening.
The forecast for tomorrow is clear and COLD. With the clear sky they expect a low of around -1F at West Glacier.
So...I've decided to go up to Avalanche Lake tomorrow morning. I'll get up early and go to the Apgar boat ramp for sun rise.
The clear air and calm wind might make for a nice sunrise. Then go to Avalanche Lake. Maybe by 8AM or so, it'll warm up---to about 5-10F

With the snow highlighting the cirque wall at the lake, there might be a good composition.
I'm going to try my first multi row panorama at the lake. Shoot it with my 55-105 zoomed to 105mm to get good pixel density.
If everything works, the final image should be a stunner.

I'm not sure how many rows I'll need--2 or 3 rows with 4-5 images in each row. Just have to see when I get there.
The set up I have is a little marginal/sketchy for a multi row pano, but it's all I got for now. I'll video the setup when I get there.
That'll be easier than trying to explain the setup here.

Later
pete

10 minute video from the trip.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-kZx ... M-1920.mp4

[PeteE]

The experiment with multi row panos didn't work. I need a proper pano head for that to work.
It was really cold today but beautiful.


More pics tomorrow.
looking up at mt Cannon from the 2011 avalanche site on the Avalanche Lake trail

[/b]

I fixed the sky by wholesale replacing it with a section of the plain blue sky from the Mt Cannon image above.
Not really cheating since it's the same blue sky from the same day.
Same result as using Photoshop to "correct" the sky flaws with a clone or brush tool.
Now the image doesn't look as bad.

[PeteE]

This 7 image pano turned out well imo.
Taken from the inlet creek at the head of the lake. I couldn't get far enough back to get the entire reflection.
Plus I had to wait for several groups of people to leave and get out of my way.
If you're wondering, the sky here is exactly like it was when photographed. It was not "replaced".

[PeteE]

Here are a few snaps from Apgar and framing tree beach before I went to Avalanche Lake

This was taken around sunrise about 8:05am. Sunrise wasn't looking to exciting.


So I turned and took this shot that looks toward the picnic area beach.


While sittin' around freezing my ass off in the 3F air waiting on the sunrise, I saw this leaf.


Nothing happening at Apgar, I drove to the framing tree beach. At first, it looked promising for some color, but it didn't happen.
I had to shoot quick because that coot on the left didn't listen when I told it to slow down.
Two frame pano


Looking back towards Apgar. The evaporating water vapor hanging over lake was kind of interesting.
3 frame pano


So then it was off to Avalanche Lake.

[PeteE]

Post no longer needed.

[McKee80]

I'm loving my weekly stop by here for the pictures. You've really gotten the hang of this photography thing!

[Jay w]

I agree. You know that some of these would look great in B&W with a little photoshop.

Jay