#looking nw

Norquay Lookout, Canada

Crater Mountain por Mark Stevens Via Flickr: This was a roadside pulloff along the North Cascades Scenic Highway heading back to Ross Lake National Recreation Area. What drew me into this image…well, other than the obvious amazing view of Crater Mountain was the way the ridges seemingly crisscrossed each other bringing a focus, so to speak, to the snowcapped mountain off in the distance.

Celebrating the Heritage of Our National Parks in Indiana Dunes National Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: While walking the Dunes National Park in the West Beach area of the national park. The view is from a high point along the trail and looking to the northwest with the quite distant city skyline of Chicago. My thinking in composing this image was to use the higher ground that I was located on and angle my Nikon SLR camera slightly downward to create a more sweeping view across the grass covered sand dunes and ridges present. That would also raise the horizon with Lake Michigan and bring the skyline of Chicago more prominent position in the captured image.

Finding My Home in the Mountains of Shasta-Trinity National Forest by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: As I hiked along the Black Butte Trail, I took in this amazing view looking down the mountainside to the valley below. The setting is to the northwest in Shasta-Trinity National Forest. One can see Interstate 5 passing through. Off in the distance are ridges and peaks of the Trinity and Scott Mountains.

Looking Down at a Boulder Field from the True Summit of Lassen Peak (Lassen Volcanic National Park) by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: At the true summit area with Lassen Peak with a view looking to the northwest and down. This is in Lassen Volcanic National Park. There are a few thoughts behind this image. One was more of a snapshot and memory image for strenuous hike that included working around large rocks and boulders to get to the summit. The other was just a look down and how I found it so fascinating to come up with an angle that allowed me to look down and then across this volcanic debris field from explosions over 100 years ago.