An early August sunrise graces a wide-angle landscape view Mt. Rainier as the Earth's twilight shadow the Belt of Venus recedes over the horizon and reveals an alpine summer garden of Eden bursting with wildflowers in Mt. Rainier NP. The prior evening Mt. Rainier National Park in Western Washington State USA had been enveloped in low clouds and fog from some atmospheric moisture hitting the hot summer air in the pacific northwest.

I prefer and plan landscape photography outings based on incoming or exiting weather systems to assist in adding atmospheric interest in my compositions but the heavy overcast gave pause to a 2am drive to scout for sunrise landscape compositions around the Naches loop area which has one of the most iconic views of Mt. Rainier in the park.

Hoping for the best I outfitted for a chilly foggy 4am hike. About a mile into the trail I had hiked above the valley fog with the stars and moon appearing in the sky and twilight beginning to reveal mostly clear skies to the east giving promise to a beautiful sunrise. With the cool morning air in place now I believed that there could be some low-level cool air ground fog pockets forming on the tarns that would be a nice addition to a composition with the fog as an illustrating interface between the cool mountain air and the summer warmed lake. Sure enough as I arrived at my location a nice layer had formed and could be seen rising to greet the first light.

I began scouting for a composition with some interesting foreground elements of the fresh dew drops covering what seemed to be endless wildflowers! This is one of the 16mm wide angle images captured that peaceful morning.