Frank Church Wilderness

Photos from a backpacking trip in the Frank Church Wilderness, central Idaho, 2015.  Destination, Ship Island Lake.  Because of the backpack, I did not carry a tripod and I forgot my grey-card.  Both were missed.

All photos with a Nikon D5100 18-85 Nikon Kit Zoom APC.


Airplane Lake.  Standard photo, with polarizer.    1/800, f3.5.  EV+0, ISO 200.  18mm(27mm).  Handheld.

Airplane Lake, 2 miles short of Ship Island.  Click for larger view.

Cathedral Lake, rising full Moon.  1/80", F8.  EV+0. ISO 800,  26mm(40mm).  No polarizer.  Exposure guessed.  At ISO 800, the picture is grainy.  Used a boulder and a shirt for a tripod.

Cathedral Lake, rising full Moon.  Click for larger view.

Portrait of my daughter.  1/125 f 3.5.  EV+0.  ISO 100, 18mm(27mm).  3/4 power auto-flash for fill, plus a polarizer.  Auto-exposure, with some white-balance and brightness corrections post-processing.  Note vignetting from a stacked polarizer and UV filter.  Probably should have stepped-back a bit and zoomed to 50mm, that would have helped to shallow the depth-of-field -- but I always forget I have a zoom lens -- I am still used to prime lenses.

Daughter.  Click for larger view

 

The kit zoom lens that came with the camera is the only lens I have.  I wished I had a 16mm(20mm) and a 50mm(85mm) prime.  I have always favored the wide angles and, as you can see above, I have the zoom set as wide as possible -- and it is not wide enough.  I miss the old days when my film-camera has a wonderful f4 20mm -- what a joy that was.

Ship Island Lake, HDR.  Because the photo was hand-held, the HDR fell apart and the photo was too soft to be printable, but I still tolerate the picture; it has an old-timer quality.  

Ship Island Lake, HDR - Soft.  Click for larger view

Lessons Learned

I took two HDR landscapes, but without a tripod, the results were poor.  Perhaps next time I can bring a  light-weight tripod, as much as I hate the weight.  

Forgetting the 18% grey-card was a colossal irritation.

Although not evident here, dozens of other pictures were taken, with most of them being of people.  For a father-daughter trip, such as this, the landscapes are nice, but it is the pictures of us that will be cherished.  We even took selfies.  I am glad I devoted as much film to ourselves.

The moon was full during the five-day trip and there was no glory in the night sky.  One should always plan backpacking trips on the new moon. 


Related Articles:
Using an 18% Grey Card
HDR Techniques: Stanley Forest Burn


Related Imageliner links:
Jump Creek, Idaho
The Pillars of Rome, Oregon
Frank Church Wilderness, Idaho
Grandview, Idaho
Stanley, Idaho Forest Burn