Mt. Rainier from a High Ridge

After about 2 years of searching: I find a place to see Mt Rainier down to its roots

Mt. Rainier from 110th Ave E near Graham, WA

I have been looking for high ground with a good view of Mt. Rainier. Not just any high ground, and not just any view.

If you get too close to a mountain, you lose perspective on it—you are too close to the foot of it, and still far from the peak, so the mountain looks foreshortened. If you get further away, you get a clean view, but if you are too far you loose details and the haze in the air reduces clarity.

I figure this little spot above a dairy farm down in the valley is one of the perfect spots around my area. I can say for sure that this is my best overall photo of the The Mountain ever. It was shot with my new favorite lens, the 85mm Canon f/1.2 on the Sony α1 camera. Exposure was at f/5.6 for sharpness, ISO 100 for low noise, 1/400th second which was a bit risky for handheld (but it worked!). The image above is a vertical panorama of two shots: one of the valley and mountain, one of the top of the mountain and the clouds. I used a polarizing filter to darken the sky by removing some of the back-scattered sunlight.

Here’s a wider view from about the same position, with a 50mm lens, also with polarizing filter:

The image above is also a two-shot panorama, but side to side.

Amusingly, earlier in the day I thought I had taken the best of all possible shots of Rainier in a construction area, where a bunch of new homes were going in (no doubt high-priced with the view of Rainier). The viewpoint is at a lower elevation, so less of the volcano is visible, but it was my best shot until a couple of hours later.

In addition, the air wasn’t as clear…rural beats suburbia every time on that. The development was east of Meridian Ave. in Puyallup, near the south end of the retail businesses. I don’t think it has a name yet. Looks expensive, however.