Sawtooth Lake Photo

Photographer’s Note

Sawtooth Lake, at nearly 10,000 feet (a little more than 3.000 m) elevation, is the largest lake in the Sawtooth Mountains of south central Idaho. It is reached on a five-and-a-half mile hike (one way) from Iron Creek, with an elevation gain of 1,700 feet (520 m). The hike is one of the most scenic I have ever had a chance to make. The trail starts in the forest for the first couple of miles, with opening in the timber for partial views of the peaks. The eventual reward is the view of Sawtooth Lake. In this shot, I tried to capture the effect of the glittering mid-day sunlight on the water surface.

Rising directly up from the floor of the Sawtooth Valley, Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains resemble the Tetons of Wyoming, even down to the large lakes impounded by glacial moraines at the foot of the mountains. The Sawtooths are strikingly obvious to any traveler, so it is fortunate, but not surprising that they were long ago protected from development, first as the Sawtooth Primitive Area, and then by Act of Congress in 1972 as the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA). Within the boundaries of the 754,000 acre (305,100 hectares) SNRA are approximately 750 miles of trails, 40 peaks rising over 10,000 feet (3.050 m) and 300 plus high mountain lakes that add to the spectacular scenery and vistas. Wildlife is diverse but not especially abundant in the Sawtooth Range. Present are mountain goats, elk, mule deer, cougar, black bear, bobcats, coyotes, and, now wolves. Recent studies have also tracked a surprising number of wolverine. The largest town in the region is Stanley, with a year-round population of a few hundred. There is still the look of the old West about it, with its rustic buildings and wide, dirt streets.

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Critiques | Translate

robbertjan (2906) 2004-02-08 5:31

A Norbert there you are. Great picture again. Wow what a great colors for this one. I wish i been there now. What a magnificant place. You have captured it very well. I like the blues of the water and the sky. What can i say more......Good job!

Josh69 (1427) 2004-02-08 5:50

Great picture and colours (maybe could be rotated 1/4 degree left). Excellent note too. I like the reflections coming off the water too.

papagolf21 (54110) 2004-02-08 6:01

Pari gagné, il m'a suffi d'ouvrir la vignette pour reconnaître le style de notre ami Norbert. Encore une superbe prise de vue. Merci pour la note d'accompagnement, une véritable leçon de géographie.
Won bet, it was enough for me to open the label to recognize the style of our friend Norbert. Still a superb catch of sight. Thank you for the note for accompaniment, a true lesson of geography.

avigur_11 (21247) 2004-02-08 6:49

The same nice Norbert blue, again. Amazing tones of blue and yellow. I like the framing very much, and the light effect on the water.
The note, what can we ask more?

Well done, Norbert.

jhm (76890) 2004-02-08 7:21

Norbert there you are. Great picture again. Wow what a great colors for this one. I wish i been there now. What a magnificant place. You have captured it very well. I like the blues of the water and the sky. Text it's an book

Clochette (8076) 2004-02-08 7:39

Once again an enjoyable view with a terrific blue lake ;-)
The glittering of the sun on the lake is well captured, and located on a strong point. However, I think this hard light made the camera shut when you took the measure of exposure, that is probably why the background is a bit dark.

mortijo (10936) 2004-02-08 9:16

A delightful picture with a fantastic blue sky and lake. The framing is perfect. The note is excellent.

manny (21378) 2004-02-08 9:37

Wondwerful colors and your angle/pesrpective brought out what you wanted to depict. Where were you? in the water? This is a very crisp picture. Good shot.

hojper (2826) 2004-02-08 10:10

Your landscapes are fantastic, Norbert. And your notes extensive and very explanatory. I envy you your hikes.
This shot is as always well chosen, with rich colours and great depth. For some reason I would have cropped out the stones in the foreground, but don't ask me why. Usually I like foreground elements in landscapes. I think it must be the overall proportion of water to land to sky that bothers me slightly. I will try a WS.

[workshop] [compare]

orme (6727) 2004-02-08 11:25

This is just perfect, Norbert - a really incredible landscape. And as if the colour of the water wasn't beautiful enough, you managed to capture 'stars' dancing on the surface. I also like the way the trees are clearly defined and not all bunched together. Good detail. Well done.

eelliott305 (776) 2004-02-08 12:19

A beautiful landscape. Composition is great, the rocks in the foreground and tall trees at left and right help to frame the pic. Lovely light on the lake. Looks like a great place to trek.

Georges (11183) 2004-02-08 14:03

Alors je m'imagine moi avec ma canne a pêche dans un lieu comme celui ci, le paradis sur Terre.
Tout est très beau et les couleurs de bleus sont géantes.
Une de mes favorites ce soir. Bravo Norbert

Didi (33760) 2004-02-08 17:06

Eclairage en semi contre-jour qui donne un très bon relief à l'image.
Paysage anti stress qui donne envie de faire un petit voyage là bas.

Lighting in half back-light which gives a very good relief to the picture. Landscape anti stress which gives desire for going on a journey there.

sunny (3068) 2004-02-08 17:48

I have to admit that it didn't look to me so gorgeous on the thumbnail..untill I opened it and saw this breath taking sight! Fantastic water reflections - it was worth to go all the road up to there, Norbert! :-) Excellent capture!

kajenn (2317) 2004-02-08 20:30

Sawtooth Lake beautifully captured with the back-lit reflections sparkling in the waves, crisp clear (both water and photo) and nicely framed. But I'd go along with Per H. concerning the stones in the foreground and crop them out - however I wouldn't crop anything from the right side. And I sense a slight tilt CW, but it's hard to tell. Being an astigmatic, I tend to tilt that way myself, and so I'm very sensitive about deviations - almost always spotting them!

Now I've read your travelogue and found it highly interesting and well written. It could well serve as a guide for a journey-to-be. The combination text [*] and referring photo was very useful and added a new dimension to the travelogue I hadn't thought of. And so did the mpeg-movie from the Olympic Park. Well travelled and well done!

Now let's see: 1 point for this photo (crop/tilt) + no points for the plastic dinosaur; however I've missed giving points for Badlands, Bighorn Canyons and Roaring Mountain, which should have at least 2 points each - not to mention some of the others! And the travelogue... that equals... hmmm... 2 points!!

Padre (59) 2004-02-09 11:53