We were first in line at Wallowa Lake sky tram. It would take us to the top of Mount Howard at 8,255 feet. Marketing information emphasized stellar views of the Wallowa Mountain Range and beyond. That didn’t seem likely today.

Given the weather and time of day, my expectation of capturing any portfolio images was very low. I decided my backup camera body and a single lens would be all I would take. The other 25 pounds of gear would remain behind.

The mountain was shrouded in a thick fog. We watched the empty tram cars move up the cable and disappear into the fog bank. Once aboard we found ourselves fogged in. We lost site of the tram start terminal and couldn’t see the mountaintop exit terminal. Our view was limited to a dozen trees either side of the cable supports.

Conditions at the top weren’t much better. We found the trail map display board, selected a trail and made our way to an overlook.

The walk was short. The overlook faced west. It should have provided panoramic views of the Wallowa Mountain Range including Chief Joseph Mountain at 9,616 feet, Sacajawea Peak at 9,838 and, much of the 360,00 acres of the Eagle Cap Wilderness. Not today!

Easterly winds carried fog up, over, and down the western slope of Mt. Howard towards Wallowa Lake. Watching the thick fog move directly in front and below us was pretty impressive. I took some ‘fog-forest’ photos.

View from Mt. Howard, Wallowa Lake, Joseph, Oregon, USA>

We reversed our route. As we walked toward the trail junction I looked back toward the overlook. Wow, look at that! Holes in the fog partially revealed what are often referred to as the Oregon Alps. The partial reveal of mountain peaks was splendid.

After kicking myself for not bringing more camera gear - including a tripod, I adjusted my camera settings hoping to capture a few sharp images. By the time I looked up from the camera the mountains were gone. Rats!

This conceal then reveal phenomenon repeated itself a bunch of times while we stood there. I clicked away thinking …. if I had only brought my tripod and ……….

Wallowa Mountain Range in Eagle Cap Wilderness, Joseph, Oregon, USA.

We moved on all the while watching the fog swirl revealing then concealing the landscape. Soon the South and Southwest skies above the mountaintops became blue and crystal clear. The fog was sandwiched between the ground and peaks.

We decided to walk the trail to the northern most overlook. Part of the overlook was roped off with signs designating it as a take off zone for hang glider’s and paraglider’s. Wouldn’t that be spectacular, aerial views!

We anticipated views of the mountains, Wallowa Lake and the valley below but fog had again rolled in and the scenery was invisible, stuck somewhere behind the fog. No crystal clear sky here.

We waited for a while entertained by the ‘chipmunks’ who clearly expected a food handout. We refrained. The fog was thick and stationary. Finally, we walked back to the mountaintop ‘cafe’ for coffee.

After 30 minutes, and with no new trails to explore, I was content to head back down the mountain. My wife suggested returning to the last overlook hoping for grand views. The sky did appeared to be clearing a bit. I reluctantly agreed.

When we reached the overlook and the sky was indeed clearing. The visible sky was a brilliant blue or at least seems more blue than usual. The semitransparent fog was now mixed with white clouds.

Fog begins to clear, Mt. Howard, Joseph, Oregon, USA.

The plateau where we stood was relatively flat with a combination of green and yellow ground cover and moss covered rocks. It extended west and then dropped off to the Valley floor.

As we stood there we were treated to amazing views of the Oregon Alps, Wallowa Lake, and the farmland to the North. The fog and clouds created a beautiful photo composition.

I took a few photos and thought the scene deserved a panoramic photograph. But, could I pull off a hand-held panorama? Note to self: Don’t leave the tripod behind next outing.

I adjusted the camera settings increasing the shutter speed to avoid hand-shake blur. I moved the camera left to right practicing the action necessary to keep the camera level and steady. I took a deep breath, relaxed my arms, exhaled and began the process. Click, rotate the camera 30%, click, rotate the camera 30%, click, etc. I repeated the entire process three times.

An eleven image, hand-held photo series merged into a single panorama photograph. Wallowa Mountains, Wallowa Lake & farmland, Joseph, Oregon, USA.

Buy This Print

The view doesn’t get much better than this!

I am happy I was persuaded to return to the overlook to capture this beautiful mountain landscape.

Cheers,

Steve

Hand-held series of photos merged into a single panorama photograph.

How I Captured The Photograph

I got really lucky with this photograph. Generally speaking, hand holding a panorama series of photos results in or more unsharp images and a final merge set that is difficult to crop.

Don’t follow my example here, use a tripod.

Here are my camera settings for this photo.

Camera: Nikon D800 (36 mega pixel)

Lens: 24-70 mm f/2.8 @ 34 mm

Number of merged images: 11

Metering: Pattern

Mode: Aperture Priority

Aperture: f/11

Shutter Speed: 1/1000 second

ISO: 400

Here are a few quick tips for taking panorama photos you might find helpful

Panorama Photo Technique Tips

Keep the camera level

Use a tripod!!!

Use manual focus

Consider using hyperfocal technique if lens focal length is 35 mm or wider

Use an aperture greater than f/9
Shutter speed is not a priority unless you are trying to hand hold photos

Recommend a minimum shutter speed of 1/250 second if hand holding camera

Choose an exposure that represents an average of the entire scene

Recommend using histogram to determine settings,
Recommend prioritizing highlights - it is easier to recover underexposed shadows versus highlights

Take photos left to right

This is merely a standard, there is no technical reason for this advice

After the first frame, overlap each subsequent frame by 30%

The overlap makes it easier for the software to merge each of the photos

During the editing process be sure to make the basic adjustments (exposure, color-tint, shadow-highlight, etc) to one of the images. Then Copy Settings for this image and Paste Settings to the other images in the pano set. This will provide a more consistent looking final panorama merge image that is ready for final editing.

Note: To achieve perfect ‘no distortion’ panorama images, learn what ‘parallax’ is and how to eliminate it. Here’s a reference on the topic https://www.reallyrightstuff.com/eliminate-parallax.

Don’t hesitate to email if you have comments or questions.

Good luck.

Steve

The Reluctant Panorama