This moss-covered branch caught my eye while walking through a Pacific Northwest rainforest. I loved the way it stretched across the scene, almost like a giant arm reaching through the forest.

The hanging moss and layers of green were what made me stop and take the shot.

A closer composition from Sol Duc Falls, focusing on the rushing water as it cuts through the dark, moss-covered rock.

My original plan was to photograph the Milky Way over Mount Rainier from Sunrise, but a nearby wildfire closed the road and changed those plans. Rather than head home, I drove to Tipsoo Lake at Chinook Pass and set up for a time-lapse.

Acquisition

• Camera: Sony A7R V
• Lens: Sony FE 16–35mm f/2.8 GM II
• Focal length: 16mm
• Aperture: f/2.8
• Shutter speed: 15 seconds
• ISO: 6400
• Frames: 567
• Interval: approximately 1 second between exposures
• Total capture time: about 3 hours
• Location: Tipsoo Lake, Chinook Pass, Washington
• Capture: tripod-mounted continuous time-lapse sequence

Processing

• RAW images processed in darktable 5.6
• Base adjustments synchronized across the full sequence for consistent color, exposure, and white balance
• Frames exported as JPEGs and renamed sequentially
• Imported into DaVinci Resolve as an image sequence
• Final resolution: 1080 × 1920, vertical
• Frame rate: 24 fps
• Final runtime: 2:03
• Format: MP4
• Audio: stereo
• 567 photographs condensed from roughly three hours into just over two minutes of video

Sony A7R V with Sony FE 16–35mm f/2.8 GM II at 16mm.
15 sec • f/2.8 • ISO 6400

Would you stop here for the view or keep hiking?

I loved seeing this hillside covered in blue lupines, pink blooms, yellow flowers, and small white blossoms.

Enjoying the western pasqueflower seed heads and blue lupine wildflowers at Tipsoo Lake near Chinook Pass, Washington.

Hiking the Burroughs Mountain Trail on the Sunrise side of Mount Rainier.

I was hoping for a clear night, but a few clouds showed up and added a bit of atmosphere to the scene.