I tried this in black and white, since the colors weren’t a big part of the image. But I ended up liking it better in color. I think it had to do mostly with the separation in the sky. The blue in the sky created more separation than it did when converted to a gray tone. But maybe I was just too lazy to keep working at it.
The only easily accessible place for winter sports on the Olympic Peninsula is Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park, south of Port Angeles. For downhill, there isn’t any chair lift, but there is a bunny hill and some challenging routes for those willing and skilled enough to venture out of the official ski area. But there are some good cross-country routes and snowshoe routes. When the weather is clear, it’s spectacular.
This is another shot from a recent trip up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. On my return to the parking lot up the Hurricane Hill road (closed to traffic in winter), the snow picked up from a gentle dusting to a little more serious effort. I liked the way the trees looked with the new snow. But I also liked the way the flakes coming down against the background of the sky made it so that I didn’t have to bother checking for sensor spots.
This view was from the Hurricane Hill Road (which was closed) in the Hurricane Ridge area of Olympic National Park. The high point in the distance is part of the Mt Angeles complex. In the winter, the snow depth can be quite impressive due to all the moisture from the Pacific that falls as snow up at 5200′.
This is also up at Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park, taken from the road over to the Hurricane Hill trailhead. That’s Hurricane Hill in the distance. The colorful bushes in the foreground are Mountain Ash.