Growlers over Mt. Baker

The EA-18G Growlers from NAS Whidbey were flying their practice runs towards Mt. Baker.  Can you imagine the views the pilots have?  The recent storms provided new snow for the majestic mountain and its foothills.   

February Sunrise

After weeks of clouds, a clear morning.  This sunrise was taken from the west side of Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island.

Rainier Dawn from Oak Harbor

A recent dawn view of Mt. Rainier from Oak Harbor, Whidbey Island.

Whidbey Island Storm

It was a stormy day in the Pacific Northwest.  We did what many Whidbey Islanders do on a stormy day, head to a rocky beach.  We chose the Deception Pass State Park and joined the others there, watching the crashing waves.  I was amazed the seagull remained on that rock for quite some time.  Hardy birds, the seagulls of the Pacific Northwest.

Mt. Baker from Whidbey Island

This view is from a farm on the northern end Whidbey Island.  It is near the one on which I grew up.  If I would walk to the west end of the farm and climb up on a tall stump, the view would be similar to this one.  I grew up catching glimpses of Mt. Baker wherever I could.  Sixty some years later, I still find awe in its majesty.

Using ICE for Panorama Stitching

Who doesn't like a free program to do amazing feats with your digital images?  Today I tried a free download from Microsoft, ICE, or Image Composite Editor.  Here is the result of combining ten JPEG images.

I left the image as it was finished in ICE, dust spots and all.  I did crop slightly, in ICE, but see now I left a bit of error cropping at either end.
The positives about this program: it was fast, much faster than, say, Elements.  The quality for web viewing is great.  For free, it is wonderful and allows anyone to try making a panorama.
The negatives: the resulting file is much smaller than would be produced in Elements.  The end file was 5.11 MB, smaller than each of the ten JPEGs.  If you need the several hundred MB images that Elements produces, this program will not work for you.
So, get out your camera, put it on a tripod, take a series of overlapping images, load them into ICE, and you have your panorama.  You can even go further and make an interactive 360 view using Microsoft Silverlight - but that is for another day.
(Note: the above image has been greatly reduced in Paint to an 82 KB file.  I do that so no one is tempted to "take" the image and use it.)

Cascade Mountains from Whidbey Island

A view from the hill above San de Fuca on Whidbey Island.  The North Cascade Mountains are seen over Camano Island.  On the lower left is the historic San de Fuca schoolhouse.  At the lower right is Highway 20.  Barely seen is the historic San de Fuca dock.  A century or so ago, San de Fuca was anticipated being a thriving community as settlers came to the area.  But the development fizzled and is now only a fading memory.
I grew up on a farm walking distance from here.  As a child, I would often come to this hill and contemplate this inspiring view.