A Meandering Mountain Hike with a BIG Pay Off!

“It must be up around the next bend!” A familiar phrase on our hike in the mountains of North Central Idaho. Looking at a map always makes the destination look closer than it really is! The overlook point to the lower portion of Elk Creek Falls kept us in anticipation, but the ultimate pay off was worth the journey! We were rewarded with two amazing cascades. Both a bit different from each other, but each just as beautiful with colorful rock formations, charming wildflowers, and gorgeous cascading water.

Featured Photos:

The meandering trail, that was once an old wagon road for homesteaders in the early 1900s, takes you to these beautiful falls. I chose to process them with a bit of warmth and saturation to bring out those beautiful colors in the rocks and wildflowers. I accomplished this, as always, with Photo Veils!

I used Photo Veils from the Botanical and Illumination Collections in the following photos. I rarely go for the real bold Veils, but in these photos I felt adventurous, so I tried out the Pomegranate Veil from the Botanical Collection, and while at full strength it was much too harsh, as I took the opacity down to about 14%, WOW! I love the warmth it added to the image.

These first two images were taken at the Lower Falls Overlook. I really wanted to focus on bringing out the coloring in the rock and the purple wildflowers seen in the second image.

Nikon D850 | 70-200mm lens at 70mm | f/18 | 1/4 | ISO 40

Before we left the Lower Falls Overlook, I backed up and composed this shot in order to capture those dainty little purple wildflowers creeping in over the rock edge in the upper right portion of the image. I originally took a series of photos in order to focus stack them in Photoshop, but decided on one of the standalone images in the end. I felt like it had the detail and feeling I was after, so I went with it!

Nikon D850 | 70-200mm lens at 70mm | f/18 | 1/2 | ISO 40

On to the Middle Falls Overlook! The below photograph is a focus-stacked image including 4 different shots. I’m still learning and getting familiar with the focus-stacking technique. I know with practice, I’ll improve. I found the movement in the foreground grasses to be a bit of trouble when blending the images together in Photoshop, but all-in-all, I love how it turned out!

Nikon D850 | 24-70mm lens at 450mm | Focus Stacked Image

And the final photo from this adventure, and my favorite! I love how you can see some golden sunlight hitting the tops of the trees coming in from the right. The warmth that the Veils give this image add a magical effect that I just love!

Nikon D850 | 70-200mm lens at 140mm | f/18 | 1/2 | ISO 64

Take a Peak Inside my Camera Bag!

As an added bonus, while on our hike in the mountains, we filmed a review of my favorite camera bag… the Peak Design Everyday Backpack. Guys, this bag is amazing, let me show you why!

Notice Something New? Hey, Cool T-Shirt!

I’ve designed some NEW T-SHIRTS (and a mug, too) just for you! Support your favorite Photo Adventure team by sporting this cool new t-shirt on your next adventure!

What’s Up Next?

Thanks for joining me on this relaxing walk in the mountains! Next up, we’re taking a step back in time, visiting a historic mill along the Snake River in Eastern Idaho. We encounter some challenges in this one, but in the end, it made for some awesome photos I never would have gotten otherwise, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, make sure you head on over to Youtube and subscribe so you don’t miss any of the fun! You can also sign up for our newsletter, where you’ll be the first to know when we drop a new episode. Until next time, get out there, get clickin’, adventure awaits!

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