Longmire-to-Paradise Road

• Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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One of the biggest attractions to us during our visit to Mt Rainier National Park was to see the Nisqually Glacier. Its one of the larger glaciers on the southwestern side of Mt Rainier. The glacier has had periods of advance and retreat since 1850 when it was much more extensive. It is currently retreating. Measurements made at 9,200 feet (2,800 m) altitude show that glacier got 56 ft (17 m) thicker between 1994 and 1997, suggesting that it will probably begin advancing in the first decade of the 21st century. Nisqually Glacier is the source of the Nisqually River.

Unfortunately, our visit coincided with a passing storm that covered the peaks of the mountain almost for the entire time we were there. I had scouted this point which is from a bridge over the Nisqually River while scouting the park using google earth. The view didn’t disappoint but we couldn’t see the Glacier at all, instead the storm clouds covered the massive mountain completely and painted a brooding scene.

For this particular shot, I thought a square crop worked really well, dividing the scene between the massive strom clouds and the debris field created by the commanding Nisqually glacier. Hope I succeded in bringing out the enormity of this vista. Settingswise, I basically metered this scene for the highlights in the storm clouds hoping that my D850 will bring in the details in the dark tones. This was my first trip with Nikon’s new flagship and I was a bit on edge after this trip but the camera is just stunning in the amount of dynami range it captures, it impresses me every time I post process an image even after using the D800 for five plus years.