Mount Shuksan and Picture Lake in the Fall
I was staring at Mount Shuksan. The jagged peaks were stunning, and perfectly reflected in Picture Lake. And I realized that the battery in my camera was dead..
Scott and I had arrived Picture Lake in the Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forrest shortly after lunch. I knew the afternoon light would be better for what we wanted to photograph, so we took our time getting there. We made our coffee, packed a lunch, and double checked our overnight reservation. There was no rush.
When we got there, the view was spectacular! I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough, and my camera came out immediately. A handful of shots later, my battery was DEAD.
.
“That’s okay”, I thought.. “That’s why I have a backup”..
I put the backup battery in the camera and….. It was showing only a sliver of life left. Apparently, I had used it up my last time out and had forgotten to recharge it. My ancient iPhone 6 I was carrying didn’t have a very good camera, so it wasn’t really a back up option either
I had a mini internal freak out and then took a deep breath. I was in a beautiful location. I had Scott to enjoy it with. If I didn’t come away with the prime images I wanted it would be okay. The enjoyment of the company and the location were more than enough. And if I was very selective with my shots and conserved my battery as much as possible I may even be able to get a few images I liked.
We drove up the hill to Artists Point. There were lots of people and it took awhile to find parking. We weren’t the only ones enjoying the gorgeous views. The rugged peaks and fall foliage were simply stunning.
Eventually, we went back down to the lake., exploring the path by the waters edge. There were gorgeous views wherever we looked.
As a photographer it reminded me of the days when we used film in our cameras and were limited to 36 shots. I needed to be much more selective with my shots and intentional about the framing. I somehow managed to get several images that I’m very pleased with. I wish that I could have played around with different viewpoints a little more. Maybe next time.
With fully charged batteries.
On to the next adventure!