[/caption] Lost Lake is one of the best places to get a great shot of Mt. Hood in the background of a beautiful and quiet lake. Motorized boats aren’t allowed in the lake and you have to really want to visit the lake since it’s a 110 mile drive from Portland. This means that you’re more likely to experience a smaller crowd during the off season or on a weekday. Your best photographic opportunity is when the lake offers a glare of Mt. Hood and the trees. Late afternoon and early evening are the best chances of getting this type of photo since you are more likely to have high clouds and some sun glare during the morning or early afternoon. The winds are also more calm later in the day, which will allow the lake to be more calm and provide a perfect canvass for the glare. I actually took this photo about two years ago during the month of October but I finally got around to going through the raw photos again in order to reduce the saturated color of the photos that I made in photo-shop. There is an awesome 3 mile hike that travels around the lake as well as a trail that takes you to a viewing area at about 3500 feet and takes you through an ancient forest. Plan on spending the entire day or even camp at the spotless private campground and maybe even bring a canoe, kayak, paddle board, wind surfing board or anything else that doesn’t require a motor. You may even spot a hawk, osprey or bald eagle diving for their meal or see deer or black bear foraging in the forest.
Tag Archives: Lost Lake
Oregon Cascades
[/caption] A short 3 mile hike around Lost Lake is a great way to take in the views of Mt. Hood. One of the most peaceful parks that I have ever visited in the Mt. Hood Wilderness. It can get pretty crowded on summer weekends but at least they don’t allow any motorized boats on the lake. I took this shot during the month of October while the vegetation along the lake were turning bright colors. The glare from the lake created an amazing photographic opportunity. I took this photo at about 4:00pm so the sun was almost directly behind me. There were more clouds during the morning and afternoon so I was lucky enough to be at this side of the lake in the later part of the afternoon. I had just finished hiking around the lake when I decided to eat the last of my snacks and wait for the clouds to move out. There was almost no wind and the clouds created a perfect setting along with the shadows and spots of sunlight. I was using my Canon T1i along with my Canon 18-55mm kit lens. I set the focal length at 40mm in order to get as much of the mountain in the shot but also making sure that the glare of the mountain appeared in the lake. The camera made was in Program/Normal mode so the aperture was at F-5 and the shutter speed was at 1/15 second. I kept the ISO at 100 and reduced the white balance to -2. I was also using my warming and CIR-PL filters in order to bring out the blue sky, contrast of the clouds and the colors of the trees.