“First Snow Last Light”
- Mt Hood from Lost Lake, Hood River Oregon -

Last light of the first snowfall of the season on Mt Hood, Fall 2022. It was a beautiful sunny Sunday and I’d already had a busy day of landscape photography first thing in the morning, church with family & friends, a fall portrait photo shoot, family time, and then it was nearing sunset time and I was getting antsy to head out on an adventure. Lost Lake was a quick last minute decision so I hopped on my motorcycle and was got there just as the last of sunset was happening. Unfortunately though, upon arrival Mt Hood was completely socked in the clouds! I just about headed back home without even getting off the motorcycle. Thankfully, I didn’t and rather decided to take a look around different parts of the lake, scouting possible compositions for my next visit hopefully when the mountain was visible. I’d walked about a half mile away and suddenly out of nowhere the clouds were parting and the mountain was visible. Only issue was that I didn’t even bother bringing my camera, it was still packed away in the motorcycle! I sprinted back, then down to the lake again, finally got the camera and tripod setup and it was in the clouds again! Persistence and patience paid off though, even though the sunset was done and it was just about dark, I was able to capture this long exposure of the very last light glowing on Mt Hood as the clouds parted again.

This is a long shutter speed to build up exposure in the very dim light, so the clouds and water are blurred as the mountain and trees are tack sharp. I ended up staying until late night capturing some mesmerizing photos of the starry sky as well! Upon leaving at 10pm and thinking my adventure and excitement were over for the day, I realized someone had closed the gate on me! Yikes! Story for another day I guess 😄

More Info ↓