Copyright Nathan Montgomery, 2008
I took this picture from just above the town of Hood River, OR in a park aptly named Panorama Point. Mt. Hood is a beautiful volcanic mountain, in the same chain with Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams. These snow capped peaks are all beautiful. However, I think that the orchards and farms in the foreground of this image are really the key to the picture. I'd love to go back earlier in the Spring some day, as something like 80% of the pears in the U.S. are grown here, and it would be a great shot with the mountain in the background and blooming trees in the foreground.
One of my favorite things about this shot is how it was taken. In an image like this, there's a major obstacle to the picture you want to take- the snowy mountain in the background and the farms in the foreground require completely different exposures. To get around this problem, I used a graduated neural density filter, basically a piece of glass that is dark on top and clear on bottom. That lets me set the exposure for the greenery but not overexpose the mountain. Additionally, I used a small aperture setting (F16) so that I could get focused from foreground to background.
4 comments:
How far do you think it is from the camera to the top of the mountain? The air must really have been very clean and dry. Also, was the sun to your backside?
Good question. I just used a web application built on google maps, and if you draw a straight line from Panorama point to the tip top of Mt. Hood, it's just over 23 miles.
We took these pictures around midday. The sun was probably still behind me but it was well on it's way to being above me.
The air quality in the Pacific Northwest is fairly remarkable, and yes, it's pretty dry once you swing around so that you are looking back at the mountain from a position at least somewhat inland from the peak. Here, the view is south-southwest of me.
I have never seen Mt. Hood, but is certainly must be massive. On a clear dry day, I can see the Platteville “M” from a point up the street from our house. This too is in the 20 to 25 mile range. At best it is a blip on the horizon.
The peak is just below 12,000 feet, whereas Panorama Point, where this shot was taken, sits at about 700 feet above sea level.
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