I’m still a bit baffled by the choice to stuff a 8 megapixel camera into a phone. Most people don’t need this in a P&S (point & shoot), let alone a phone. And, if you think about it, the photos people are taking with their phones are most likely going to be shared online, so the file size alone of a 8 MP photo is absolute overkill for sharing.

But enough of that. My first few photos with the Droid X were downright terrible. I mean, I wouldn’t even share them I was so embarrassed (I’m picky, sorry) by the awful resolution. Now, to be fair, the camera/phone was new and I was just starting to play around with it. Recently though, my hopes have been on the rise.

During a Whistler backcountry ski tour last weekend with my brother, for the first time in recent memory, I forget my DSLR. But, I did have my phone, and, of course, the day turned out to be ideal for some backcountry ski photos. So I did what I could. I snapped some shots here and there of the beautiful Coast Mountains, stretching as far as the eye could see, a world of white. Then I discovered the panoramic feature. It took me a few tries to figure out exactly how it worked, but once I did, I was impressed by the technology. Of course, any photo looks amazing on the (relatively) tiny screen of a phone, so it wasn’t until I got home that I could see what the results were. Overall I was pretty impressed.

This last photo was taken the other day on my bike commute home – with Boeing literally just down the road, I see these often. Pretty cool. (the stitching wasn’t perfect here)

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Van Epps backcountry ski photos – central Washington Cascades, in the vicinity of Mount Stuart

Click any image to view and download for free as wallpaper for iphone, Andriod, etc etc etc.

On location -

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Taking advantage of stellar early season conditions, a group of us headed north to HWY 20 and the North Cascades, beating out a seasonal closure that shuts down the highway to all (except those w/ snow mobiles.) While coverage was thin in spots, it was an opening day not to be forgotten.

Morning light was tough for backcountry ski photos, but over the course of the day, the clouds parted and everyone quickly forgot about the long drive from Seattle to get here.

And one last image – a hand-held panoramic, taken from Maple Pass. North Cascades HWY meanders up the valley in the left part of the image as it heads east towards Mazama and Winthrop. Soon after I took this, the sun disappeared, the temperatures dropped to about 10 degrees and we left for Seattle, thankful for what the season has already provided.

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Yesterday was the first day I was able to try out my new Canon Rebel T2i DSLR out in the wilds. And, what better way to do that than with a trip up to the North Cascades HWY for some backcountry skiing. It was a beautiful day for being out which meant, somewhat unfortunately, it was also very bright out. (Combine a strong May sun reflecting off all the surrounding snow-covered peaks, and you have found the ingredients for tough shooting conditions.)

I wasn’t really going for any epic backcountry skiing photos this time around, so for the most part I just took out the 2Ti and shot away. I did very little post-processing to the below images. First impression: the image quality from this camera (with the cheapo kit lens no less) was quite nice. I did manage a very short HD video clip as well, and wow, I’m impressed.

After a bit more use of the camera, I’ll post a “review” of sort.

[View with PicLens]

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Ok, so it may be a bit earlier to ski Mt Rainier (at least from the summit) but I can’t help but think spring ski touring is right around the corner. Of course, if you were out last weekend enjoying the deepest snow of the year, spring feels a long long ways away.

Making the below photo your desktop wallpaper is easy:

1. click image
2. Mac: right click and “Set as Desktop Background”
3. PC:  click image >> right click >> save to desktop >> open image >> right click >> save as desktop background

Monitor resolution – 1440 x 900

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Depending on who you ask, the weather in the Pacific NW has either been really nice (lots of sun), or really crappy (little snow.) Regardless, the goods are still out there. This backcountry ski photo was shot during an epic week-long trip to the Fairy Meadows hut in the Selkirk mountains of British Columbia.

Making the below photo your desktop wallpaper is easy:

1. click image
2. Mac: right click and “Set as Desktop Background”
3. PC:  click image >> right click >> save to desktop >> open image >> right click >> save as desktop background

Monitor resolution – 1440 x 900

Monitor resolution 1280 x 800

Monitor resolution 1024 x 768

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February is half over yes, but it’s never too late for a little winter inspiration. I can’t say it feels like February here in Washington, but than again it’s hard to complain when the sun is shining this bright.

Making the below photo your desktop wallpaper is easy:

1. click image
2. Mac: right click and “Set as Desktop Background”
3. PC:  click image >> right click >> save to desktop >> open image >> right click >> save as desktop background

Monitor resolution – 1440 x 900

Monitor resolution 1280 x 800

Monitor resolution 1024 x 768

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Here’s the newest addition to a  growing desktop calendar series of backcountry skiing photos. This is a favorite skiing photo of mine, taken on Mt St Helens with Mt Adams in the background.

Making the below photo your desktop wallpaper is easy:

1. click image
2. Mac: right click and “Set as Desktop Background”
3. PC:  click image >> right click >> save to desktop >> open image >> right click >> save as desktop background

Monitor resolution – 1440 x 900

Monitor resolution 1280 x 800

Monitor resolution 1024 x 768

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This is the first in a new series of adventure photos I’ll be sharing for use as desktop wallpaper calendars. As it is winter, a skiing photo seems appropriate. There should be more to come soon.

Making the below photo your desktop wallpaper is easy:

1. click image
2. right click and “save image as…”
3. Mac: right click and “Set as Desktop Background”

Monitor resolution – 1440 x 900

Monitor resolution 1280 x 800

Monitor resolution 1280 x 1024

Monitor resolution 1024 x 768

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In addition to some of the backcountry ski photos I took during our ski tour to Harding Mountain, I managed to snap of a quick panorama from the top. Handheld, I took 10 shots from left to right, which were later combined in the newest version of Photoshop Elements. The only post-processing involved (in Lightroom) was a tiny bit of exposure compensation to get the middle few pictures to match up with the outside ones.

Click to view a larger version

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