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Astrophotography Trip
Mount Saint Helens
August-September, 2024
In August, 2024, we participated in an astrophotography workshop at Mount Saint Helens over the weekend that included our 33rd anniversary. The workshop was led by Jack Fusco and sponsored by our favorite local photography store, Glazer's Camera. Wide-angle lenses ideal for astrophotography were available for loan on-site by SIGMA representative Aaron Norberg, also a knowledgeable astrophotographer.
We signed up for all three nights; the second night so we could apply what we learned from the first night and the third as insurance against uncooperative weather.
Click on any of the photos below to see a larger version.
We got some great photos the first night under clear skies, plus an unexpected treat – seeing the aurora borealis!
In addition to shooting stills on the first night, Tom ran an additional camera taking a photo every 30 seconds to build a timelapse. The result was interesting, but he started it late and missed the early evening. Starting sooner on the second night, he caught nice cloud motion at the beginning, but for some reason the camera stopped taking photos and he didn't notice until it had been off for over an hour.
On the third night, there were heavy clouds at the beginning, and from the weather forecast we weren't sure they would clear. We both set cameras running sequences for timelapses, figuring we'd at least get fun cloud movement. Fortunately, we were able to capture the stars and Milky Way emerging as the clouds cleared out of the way.
Each photo: 15s, f/1.8, ISO 4000 - 6400
Canon R3, SIGMA 14mm F1.8 DG HSM
Silver Falls
On the day of our anniversary, we took a short hike and had a picnic lunch at Silver Falls in Mount Rainier National Park.
Spirit Lake
The drive from Highway 12 at Randle up to the Mt. St. Helens Smith Creek Viewpoint is on 35 miles of winding paved road with frequent potholes, making for an hour and fifteen minutes of intense, bumpy driving. On our final day, we left a couple of hours early and stopped at the viewpoints and historical markers on NF-99 to learn about the devastation of the May 15, 1980, eruption.
The massive landslide caused by the eruption carried a considerable portion of the former summit downhill and into Spirit Lake, filling it with trees and other debris which raised the lake's level by 200 feet and doubled its surface area. Hills that faced the mountain were stripped of life while hills that faced away had some protection from the worst of the blast. Even now, 44 years later, you can see a stark difference in vegetation from hills facing toward and away from the blast.
In the photo below, the sparse vegetation on the hill to the right shows its slow recovery while the more protected hill on the left is much more verdant.
This high-resolution panorama is suitable for viewing on a VR headset for an immersive experience.
Windy Ridge
At the end of NF-99 is Windy Ridge Viewpoint which offers a 368-step sand ladder up to a vantage point where you can view the path of the landslide from the summit to Spirit Lake. The marker at the top explains that the eruption and landslide lowered the summit by 1,349 feet.
This high-resolution panorama is suitable for viewing on a VR headset for an immersive experience.
Gear and Software
We took photos with Canon EOS R3, Canon EOS R6 Mark II, and iPhone 15 Pro. We processed photos with Lightroom (macOS), Capture One (Windows), and Shotcut (Windows).
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