On this cool Cascade Mountain morning, the intricately textured glacial ice that caps Mt. Rainier spectacularly reflected the earliest direct sunlight of the day, while surrounding countryside remained silhouetted in shadow. Ice cliffs more squarely facing the sun, of course, reflected more of the sunrise back at us, accentuating the glaciers’ crumpled, rugged form. A short, tripodded time exposure, with a deep zoom length and high f-stop, worked together to drink the fullness of color while keeping near and far in focus. Luck helped too: a calm interlude in an otherwise lightly breezy morning kept trees still long enough. Several minutes later, the wind picked up again, but the less-reddened, more yellow sunlight still reflected wonderfully off ice and water.
20 NNE Packwood WA (15 Aug 16) Looking WSW
46.8672, -121.5155