https://www.craigallenphotography.com/home daily 1.0 2022-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/94f8bc25-d03a-4591-9e6f-411c30b8b5c0/intro--102.367---web-no-watermark.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/df0d3a45-657f-483c-84ff-89f539336dc7/intro--104.037---web-no-watermark.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/517e134c-49f4-4e24-a3a9-852853d56e5e/intro--109.082---web-no-watermark.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/2ea70636-d877-4a67-8ca4-2e589cadbbb5/intro--108.385---web-no-watermark.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/1648269831063-OZKWT578CSG6PHKV1F1F/intro--110.146---web-no-watermark.jpg Home https://www.craigallenphotography.com/home/category/Travel monthly 0.5 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/home/tag/Travel monthly 0.5 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/about daily 0.75 2022-03-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/016d9fc8-7656-4c5a-b4e0-d799d1c65cd6/108.801+-+edit.jpg About - For as long as I can remember I have always owned a camera. The first camera I owned was a Kodak Pocket Instamatic 110, I wish I still had that one. In junior high school I needed to fill one more class, so I chose “Intro to Photography” and my life changed. Watching images appear in the development tray was magical. There are still songs that I will hear, and I flashback to that darkroom (the radio was always playing in the darkroom). By high school I had converted the bathroom off my bedroom to a darkroom and spent more than a few all-nighters printing pictures. After high school I got married, a full-time job, and photography took a back seat. Through the years I would dabble with photography, and I truly enjoyed it, but never tried to do anything other than just document our travels. Then I tried my hand at landscape oil painting and quickly realized that I didn’t know how to fill in the subtle details, so I got my camera and went out to take pictures that I could then paint. I was immediately discouraged by the images I took and set out to fix that. Well, that is how I went from photography to painting and back to photography, and I’ve never looked back. In 2021 I decided to switch over to primarily B&W images. There are several reasons that lead to that change, but the main reason was that I was looking to get back to the basics. There is just something about a good B&W image that I truly believe color cannot match. So, for now the majority of what I do is B&W. I feel like I have come full circle: started with B&W film, then color film, then color digital, and now back to B&W (although yes, mostly digital). What does tomorrow hold for me and my passion for photography? I have no idea and while that idea used to frustrate me, today it excites me. I hope you enjoy my vision, Craig https://www.craigallenphotography.com/contact daily 0.75 2022-03-29 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/new-page daily 0.75 2022-03-30 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/gallery daily 0.75 2022-03-27 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/gallery/mountain-scenery monthly 0.5 2022-03-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/27ea07a3-7612-40f7-ae0d-f3f70101650e/102.367---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Mt Hood at Sunset Mt Hood is beautiful from any direction, but from the west I find it especially striking. This image was taken from Lolo Pass Road in December, and I can attest that it was indeed cold. The layers visible from here are amazing and this is one of my favorite images of Mt Hood that I have taken. Image #102.367 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/e09260b7-05ee-4432-88fb-0b2b4c47e80b/106.572---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Old Man of Storr, on the Isle of Skye was a bucket list visit for me. The day we arrived on the Isle it was torrential rain and wind, thankfully by morning, it had calmed down and we had wonderful conditions. Image #106.572 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/46d2e5b9-1fb8-4114-8979-ecd9fa526a70/106.595---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Old Man of Storr II, taken from the backside of the Old Man this is a seldom seen view of him. Instead of hiking down the way we went up, we did a loop going around the backside and down. It gave us more time in this fairytale land, and I love this shot. Image #106.595 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/bc444842-69e2-420c-95b2-4a72f6251962/106.061---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Sun Rays, while driving to Fort William, Scotland we encountered this light show that necessitated a quick stop and some roadside photography. Image #106.061 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/67effb98-cbdc-4c71-ad2a-5d220e8c7ad3/106.699---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Meandering, on a day that turned out to be one of the best days of our lives, my wife and I agree this was one of those days. The Isle of Skye, Scotland was…pick your superlative, but this particular day, with this hike through Quiraing, was the tops. From Loch Cleat in the lower left to the beautifully lit canyon and sunrays, and then that subtle backlit ridge in the lower right. One of my personal favorites. Image #106.699 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/5e0fc364-a516-4a0a-897d-03246f771afb/108.517---web-watermark%27.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Prusik Peak Clearing Storm, the morning after a huge storm tried to blow us off mountain, while rain tried to wash us down said mountain. This scene was so dynamic with the light and clouds changing by the second. In the end I had 25 shots to look through and this was the winner. Image #108.517 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/66bd405a-6d7c-4f2e-a5e0-383cca7e234e/109.086+-+web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Unicorn and Foss Peaks, December 23, 2019, had me in the hospital for surgery so my wife and I decided to spend December 23, 2020, in a slightly better location: Mt Rainier. So, we went snowshoeing and the conditions were perfect. Unicorn Peak is on the left and Foss Peak is on the right. I hope you like it and may we all have a healthy and prosperous 2021 and beyond. Image #109.086 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/898afb46-d543-445d-af20-c956dc2428a9/109.181---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Russian Butte, located along the beautiful Middle Fork Snoqualmie River is this picturesque peak. I wish all images were as easy to get to, I was standing on a sidewalk on a bridge about 150 feet from my truck when I took this. Image #109.181 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/7c173739-a4bc-48ac-9ecc-8434574e232a/109.220---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Mt Si in Winter, if you know where to look you can see 2 hikers at the top on this shot taken from the town of North Bend, Washington. This was an incredible day with the conditions and light. The clouds were moving so quickly that if I didn’t have the light I wanted, I would just wait and usually within 10 minutes I had what I needed. Image #109.220 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/3b87a042-164b-4172-a0f6-b62cbdb493bc/109.319---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Mt St Helens, climbing the mountain on a sunny, near cloudless day. We were taking a break and I loved how the snow contrasted with the sky, and the early morning sun cast subtle shadows in the snow, showing all the wind sculpting. A great day for sure. Image #109.319 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/097c9693-9e7e-4a51-81ce-b895b65a9411/110.146---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Mt St Helens, an early morning fog blankets Spirit Lake with Mt St Helens as the majestic backdrop. To think I almost didn’t get out of the tent this morning, I had been up late doing astrophotography. Needless to say, once I saw the lake, I knew I made the right choice. Image #110.146 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/ca7a00a9-155f-4bcf-8928-61327d9d22e0/110.516---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Atlas Peak, located next to Mt Olympus is this photogenic gem. Shortly after the sun came up clouds started developing, and then I got a great light and shadow show. It was a morning I will not forget. Image #110.516 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/009bdabd-f895-45d6-acda-7fd6162d1487/110.431---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Mountain Scenery Blue Glacier, Mt Olympus’ Blue Glacier extends 2.7 miles and is up to 900 feet thick. It has retreated about .7 miles in the last 200 years. This is the view from the terminal moraine on a magical evening. The clouds were blowing through so fast that less than 30 seconds after this image was taken, I couldn’t see 100 feet that direction. This is a 3 shot vertical panorama to capture the angle of view. Image #110.431 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/gallery/water monthly 0.5 2022-03-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/382f3c87-400c-4381-bc8f-5b8bb4e77d12/104.037---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Water Snoqualmie Falls, my wife and I stopped at the falls one day as an afterthought really, and by the time we left an hour later I had my best shot of Snoqualmie Falls that I have ever taken. I used a 2-stop GND filter to balance the sky and was able to capture this in a single exposure. Image #104.037 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/6a29836a-8c83-40b6-8655-dcae0b4a50c7/101.356---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Water Metlako Falls, in the Eagle Creek Wilderness was a difficult subject only because of the narrow ledge on which you had to stand, the viewpoint was very small. There’s much that goes into this image, but the short version is I had to stop on the way out because I had messed up the images on the way in. It was with my 4x5 field camera and being late in the day and raining, this ended up being about a 1.5-minute exposure if I remember correctly. Now this area has been forever changed by the huge fire caused by someone throwing smoke bombs into the canyon. Image #101.356 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/1b2d1f85-3b00-4eef-bdee-a699683d9cc1/105.565---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Water Boats on River Tay, the town of Newburgh was our first night’s stay in Scotland. It was during our walk about town that I spotted this lovely scene, during low tide. Image #105.565 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/521e8f88-4809-4b08-a894-4b08298ba2a8/106.829---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Water The Fairy Pools, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland was an amazing place that I could have spent all day at, even with the rain that was heavy at times. The entire path was stunning and this scene, with the quickly changing light, made for some of the most fun I’ve ever had with my camera. It is definitely on the “must return” list. Image #106.829 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/gallery/my-wifes-butt monthly 0.5 2022-03-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/570f0e9c-f25a-48a4-a4ef-350f7c959e4e/110.357---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - My Wife's Butt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/6bf1122a-12dc-40b9-933d-152785380f99/110.364---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - My Wife's Butt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/f74a2d0c-7faf-4b52-9047-41b2cd8b5665/110.356---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - My Wife's Butt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/425837c8-d170-435f-9701-c7977cd5d5ce/110.371---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - My Wife's Butt https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/211ecc23-7ea7-446a-8895-6bdf7f1cef42/110.406---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - My Wife's Butt https://www.craigallenphotography.com/gallery/man-made monthly 0.5 2022-03-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/41a0e6d9-227a-49f6-ae40-c3eafd507aa8/104.712---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Man Made Teampall Bheanain (St. Benan’s Church), on the isle of Inis Mór sits up on hill overlooking everything really. Thick clouds and light rain made sure the views didn’t distract me, so these locals came by to lend a compositional hand. Yes, I thanked them. Image #104.712 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/badfaae2-b6b0-4081-95d6-e7fc8dff520a/105.935---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Man Made Wallace Monument, Abbey Craig, Scotland, this was the view from Stirling Castle on the morning we arrived. The weather was pretty poor; high winds and heavy rain, but the light show was spectacular. I ended up with 9 variations of this scene over the course of the morning. What a wonderful way to start the day. Image #105.935 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/14e4e061-f031-4d1c-8668-235e63681643/105.978---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Man Made Wallace Monument, Abbey Craig, Scotland, this is another shot from the spectacular morning at Stirling Castle with this view of the Wallace Monument. It was awesome watching how fast the light would move through and completely change the composition. If we didn’t have other places to go I could have spent hours there shooting this scene. Image #105.978 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/gallery/critters monthly 0.5 2022-03-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/8d6049b8-c4dd-4b17-bc5b-f44ad9980d54/110.382---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Critters Doe and Fawn, On the first night of backpacking the Hoh River trail we had this doe and fawn come right by our campsite at Lewis Meadows. I followed them around for a short while and got several good images, but this is my favorite. For me, it’s a sweet moment between a mom and her baby. Image #110.382 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/7065a3b7-46af-44d1-af66-4f71fd69387b/110.379---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Critters Fawn with Spots, this little critter and her mom were so cute to watch. They just meandered by our camp not paying us much attention, obviously used to backpackers. Image #110.379 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/ae0c7684-0498-40e4-b875-827afd9ea0e5/109.596---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Critters Morning Visitors, a beautiful morning in the Mount Margaret Backcountry of Washington State was made even better when these three came along. I was heading back to camp after a sunrise photo shoot when I saw these elk. Elk have returned to the blast zone of Mt St Helens and are doing extremely well and now live there year-round. Image #109.596 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/gallery/abstract-misc monthly 0.5 2022-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/974ef416-86c1-44d6-86bc-9b7c60f97f5f/DSC_1845-Edit.-web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Abstract and Misc. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/9c2abb1c-9144-4438-a201-f9eacfb3b963/110.725.c+-+web+watermark.jpg Gallery - Abstract and Misc. Trident, shot as I found them on a walk my wife and our dogs. I took quite a few different angles because, if I’m honest, on these types of shots I struggle with composition. For this version I still ended up with a slight rotation, but I like the angles and I love all the textures in this scene. Image #110.725 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/7f7796bf-3199-4d93-9080-f60c51a6f6e2/104.414---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Abstract and Misc. Stormy Burren, County Clare Ireland is a scenic wonderland and every time I turned around there was something stunning in front of me. This was on our first full day in Ireland; not a bad start. Walking around and looking for compositions was so much fun and it’s also high on my “must return” list. Image #104.414 https://www.craigallenphotography.com/gallery/forests-woodlands-trees monthly 0.5 2022-03-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/8819f0d6-1136-49f9-a7d6-d357caede7f2/108.385---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Forests, Woodlands, and Trees Larch and Cairn, mark the way along Inspiration Lake in the Enchantments of Washington State. I was so drawn to this view that I had my tripod on the verge of sliding into the lake so I could get a sharp image of the granite and tree but drag the shutter to soften the water. Image #108.385 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/7f88c5d1-7c08-499e-8aad-cca171b973c6/109.082---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Forests, Woodlands, and Trees Tree in Snow, Paradise on Mt Rainier certainly lives up to its name anytime of year. Most people think of summer for the wildflowers. Those are fantastic, and I do those hikes most years, but winter for me might be the best time to visit the mountain. I love contrast and textures, so this scene checks all the boxes for me. Image #109.082 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/1260cfc2-f470-4f99-bf7c-7f48e9f59d6c/110.019---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Forests, Woodlands, and Trees New Life, this scene tells a very violent story. May 18, 1980, this spot was hit by the tidal wave of Spirit Lake being pushed up the valley by the erupting volcano Mt St Helens. Then it was blasted by 350 mph wind that was super-heated to about 400° F. The area was sterilized. They have not intervened in this area so this is all natural second growth after 41 years. It was impressive to see the amount of life thriving here now. Image #110.019 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/22173107-23af-450f-b86d-2b2fa6973bbc/110.033---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Forests, Woodlands, and Trees Morning Light, hits a narrow ridge in the Mount Margaret Backcountry. I was heading back to camp after photographing sunrise and I had to stop and capture this wonderful contrast of early morning sunlight against a deep shadow background. Image #110.033 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/c350b76e-19a8-4165-93b1-14a0b06faedf/110.386---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Forests, Woodlands, and Trees Sunlight Through the Storm, on our first night on the trail along the Hoh River we encountered the only rain we would get. But that transition from nice weather to stormy is almost always photographic gold. Image #110.386 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/4ad6047b-4815-44ed-ab3e-8f468c57ad53/110.051---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Forests, Woodlands, and Trees False Hellebore, has been a favorite photographic subject of mine forever and I’ve photographed it a thousand times, but never gotten a really good image. I had to act quickly for this one as the light moved through the scene extremely fast. This is a focus stack of 3 images to maintain sharp focus throughout. Image #110.051 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/61622f80dfa61544d0536610/faba34e6-0190-4547-9226-b6e71ee05ddd/109.290---web-watermark.jpg Gallery - Forests, Woodlands, and Trees Stillness, this was on a casual stroll up Mailbox Peak Old Trail in Washington State (if you know the hike you caught that joke). There was a beautiful fog lingering creating a wonderful atmosphere. The problem I encountered when I tried to capture this scene was that I left my tripod at home, and it was dark. So, I ran the ISO up to 1000 and relied on Nikon’s vibration reduction system to help keep this sharp at 160mm and 1/40 sec.!! Image #109.290