This vacation was designed to be many things.
An escape from the standard set of daily responsibilities, an amazing adventure spent with the 3 people I love the most, and of course, time spent in nature taking in the calm, serenity, and beauty of creation. While all high on the list, they were still secondary to the original goal of chasing light, and capturing the beauty of these places through my camera.
The time had come.
For our first full morning in Glacier National Park (Day 3 of the trip) I had planned to visit a location I'd seen previously online. Wild Goose Island is a very small island in Saint Mary Lake on the eastern side of the park. It rises only 14 feet above the surface and only supports a handful of trees. It is considered to be one of the most photographed locations in the park, though one could argue that the lines of tourists waiting for selfies with the National Park sign might top that out ;-)
4:00 am always comes quicker than it should when you went to sleep late, tossed and turned, woke up to a chilly tent, and the sun isn't even up yet. Those who know me are quite aware I am not an early riser, but I find it amazing how the drive and excitement of watching the sun rise over a new location pulls me out of a warm sleeping bag and into the cold dark of the morning.
Due to rising early the day prior, and how late we went to sleep, the family opted to sit this particular sunrise out, but after sharing my experience, they did not miss another After a short drive, and since I was unfamiliar with the location, I did some brief composition scouting, and some guessing on how the sunrise would play out, both in color and direction. I was disappointed to see a familiar scene play out, and one that ended up plaguing me the rest of the trip. There was a light wind, which reduces the reflective nature of the water, and instead of having clouds towards the west allowing dramatic color in the scene, they were instead far to the east effectively blocking or delaying the sunrise itself.
Knowing that would impact the planned composition, I took a risk and drove off to another overlook that looks to the east over Wild Goose Island and the long winding Saint Mary Lake. I was pleasantly surprised to find a good amount of color in the sky, as well as a beautiful rising moon.
Saint Mary Lake and Wild Goose Island - Canon 80D EF-S 18-135 - 22 mm 1.3 sec @ f / 9.0 ISO 100 - Lee Filters (.75 Graduated Neutral Density and a Polarizer)
Quite pleased with the result, I decided to head back to the original overlook and give it a chance. Unlike most places I've photographed in the morning, I was surprised to see other photographers there already and prepared to get the same shot I would. It was a strange situation for me to basically jockey for a tripod spot, but equally awesome to share the moment with people who saw the scene as I was, and discuss all the nerdy technical details. I am generally an introvert but can always take some time to talk nerdy ;-)
As mentioned above the weather for the scene didn't play out as epic as I had hoped. The water a bit too disturbed by wind, and the clouds were behind us blocking light instead of displaying it. However, it was still a gorgeous morning, and any day you can watch the sun rise kissing the edge of a beautiful mountain range, well that is a good day.
Wild Goose Island - Canon 80D - Canon 80D EF-S 18-135 - 18 mm 1/8 sec @ f / 9.0 ISO 100 - Lee Filters (.75 Graduated Neutral Density and a Polarizer)
As the light began to stretch down, illuminating the entire mountain, I did some experiment compositions with my longer lens a canon 100-400 mm that I generally use for wildlife. I wasn't really finding anything that stood out, and was about to pack up and leave. A photographer I had been talking with that morning was still taking shots and so naturally I was looking to see what of. It did just enough to delay my departure and one more shot presented itself as the sun line finally reached Wild Goose Island itself. From the tip of the tallest tree to the water, it only lasted about 20 seconds before the entire Island was fully lit. Every time I think I've learned my lesson of "waiting out" the light. I seem to learn it again ;-) A special thanks to Mark Laverman both for the company that morning and for keeping me around long enough to capture this next image. You can view his work at www.MarkLaverman.com and on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/marklavermanphotography/
Wild Goose Island - Canon 80D - Canon 80D EF 100-400mm - 135 mm 1/15 sec @ f / 11 ISO 100
There will be 2 or 3 posts following this one still focused on Glacier National Park before moving on to Banff. Some of which will include some of the awesome wildlife we encountered.
Next up is our day hike at Logan Pass up to Hidden Lake... Once I can get these bums out of bed ;-)
