Oregon’s Mt. Jefferson is quite possibly my favorite mountain in the world.  Mt. Jefferson is stunning, rugged and remote.  It holds lots of snow in summer which tends to make it more photogenic than some other Oregon volcanoes.  Also, it is loaded with wildflowers.  Mt. Jefferson, when viewed from the west and looking east, has an elegant natural composition.  Fortunately for Landscape photographers like myself, there are many areas in Oregon’s Old Cascades which are loaded with wildflowers and also have views of Mt. Jefferson, “Fourth of July”.  I’ve scouted in the Old Cascades countless times in the past and frankly, I’ve never captured a fine art Landscape print from the west side of Mt. Jefferson that is as stunning as this amazing photograph which I am about to release.

Oregon’s Mt. Jefferson and an amazing meadow of wildflowers are illuminated by an amazing lenticular cloud.

On the Fourth of July, 2014, My Wife, Debbie, My daughter, Emma and I were driving home from Portland after a soccer game and we chose to drive home over Santiam Pass.  Santiam Pass is always a pleasant drive but on this day it was amazing.  I noticed amazing lenticular cloud formations forming over the Central Oregon Cascades and specifically over Mt. Jefferson.  I’d been to the exact location that I took this photo only days before and I knew the wildflowers in the Old Cascades were in full bloom.  The combination of stacked lenticular clouds layered over Mt.Jefferson’s elegant summit could be a winning combination!  I couldn’t talk my wife and daughter into an impromptu hike in the Old Cascades, so I drove them home to Bend, and I immediately returned to this site, just in time.  The lenticular clouds were magically stacked over Mt. Jefferson and conditions were mercifully windless. I couldn’t believe my good fortune!  I quickly composed the scene you see above which includes Red Indian Paintbrush, purple penstemmon, Lupine and plentiful and whimsical Beargrass, all of them at their peak of color!  To my back were clear skies, adding extra light to the scene and thankfully decreasing my exposure times.

I know I’ll get lots of questions about this Print, so let me try to be proactive and answer some ahead of time.

-Does this sort of sunset happen often over Mt. Jefferson?  No!

-What kind of filter did I use? None, seriously.  It was a rare combination of natural light that makes this beautiful print special.

-Where was this taken? I’m not telling!  This is a public but sensitive area, so I won’t share but someone could figure it out with some minimal internet research.

– What time of year was this taken? July 4th!

How many exposures were used to make this image? One, honestly!  If you were standing beside me, it would have looked exactly like what you see in this fine art photograph.

The first print of this image is on its way and will be officially released October 3rd, 2014.  I can’t wait.  I love capturing special places in beautiful lighting conditions and this Print of Mt. Jefferson was certainly captured under some stunning natural lighting conditions.  I hope you all enjoy my newest fine art print.  Please leave any comments below and if you’d like to order a fine art print of this beautiful scene, please visit this link, Fourth of July,Mt. Jefferson.

Thanks For Visiting,

Mike