Mount Rainier Paradise Morning Wall Art Print
What Is Mt. Rainier Paradise Meadows And Where Is It?
Mt. Rainier is the highest mountain peak in Washington State. It is also the highest in the Cascade Mountain Range. It tops out at 14,411 feet. It is a stratovolcano. It is located southwest of Seattle about 59 miles away as the crow flies. Mt. Rainier is also the name of the national park that surround this massive, towering mountain peak. The peak is home to numerous glaciers and looks like it is snow capped all year round. The park was established on March 2, 1899 and was the fifth national park in the United States.
There numerous different sections of Mt. Rainier National Park. Paradise and Paradise Meadows may be the most well know and the most popular. It is a harsh, frigid environment in the winter and a stunning alpine meadow that drinks from the melting snow and glaciers from late spring through autumn. In the fall, the brilliant colors from the brush in the alpine meadows of Mt. Rainier can rival the brilliant fall foliage colors in New England. While the New England Landscape is may be best well known for sugar maples, Paradise Meadows is colored by things like Sitka Mountain Ash and other smaller bushes and flowers.
Once the snow melts, Paradise Meadows offers lots of trails perfect for observing glacial melt streams, wildflowers and brilliant fall foliage depending on the time of year. The meadows are so brilliantly colored in the fall, they just might bring tears to your eyes.
What Is It Like To Travel To Paradise Meadows At Mt. Rainier?
It’s not terribly difficult to get to Mount Rainier. If you’re going to fly out, Seattle is fairly close. If you want to explore some of Oregon along with your trip to Mt. Rainier you may want to fly into Portland. Once you get close to Mt. Rainier the roads are typical windy mountain road in spots. If the Paradise area is your target destination, the Nisqually Entrance is closest to Paradise. If you want lodging outside the park, the town of Ashford, Washington is one place to look. If you want to stay in the park, the Paradise Inn or the National Park Inn may be desirable. If you’re on a budget and like to rough it, there are a number of campground inside the park as well as forest service camping areas outside the park.
Any time of year, Paradise and Paradise Meadows can be quite crowded. Getting an early start is a great idea. It can be a great time to get that soft early morning light on Mt Rainier and the meadows below. If you want to have any chance of getting people free photos around the lodge and the steps leading up to Paradise Meadows sunrise is about the only time you will be able to go that on a day when the weather is halfway decent. If you go in the fall it is a good idea to have tire chains with you. An early snowfall can make the steep windy road up to Paradise treacherous and chains may save your trip if there is any early snowfall. Starting November 1st all cars are required to carry tire chains.
If you can, make lodging reservations. If you plan to wing it it may be possible in the forest service areas around Mt. Rainer. Keep in mind that the roads in forest service areas are often logging roads. If you end up sleeping in your car, make sure you get off the road so you don’t get killed by a logging truck thundering down the road!
What Does It Take To Get A Wall Art Quality Photo Of Paradise Meadows At Sunrise?
Once you’ve got a place to stay around Mt. Rainier you really just need to hope for a partly cloudy morning to get some cool sunrise shots. Rainy days will not be good. Days with low winds my help to make the foliage sharper in low light sunrise photos that require a slower shutter speed but somewhat blurry foliage isn’t that big of a deal. It just makes the photo look a bit more like painting. Mt. Rainier can be socked in by clouds and fog for days. You could go there for a week and come away with nothing.
The biggest thing you’ll want to hope for is a lack of people if you want to shoot the steps with the John Muir inscription carved into them at Paradise. If you don’t want to get that shot, then you may be able to hike up farther on the trails away from people and get some people free sunrise photos at Paradise. While my favorite time there is autumn, peak wildflower season is an excellent time as well. Reflection Lake is another nice photo spot in the Paradise area and can be a good spot for sunrise photos. I did some sunrise photography there but never got a really good fiery sunrise.
Overall, just get there early, get a feel for the crowds and pick your spot to minimize the crowds around you that are likely to walk right through your shot. If you can, go the day before and scope out some shots you’d like to get. It’s true everywhere these days but was especially true at Rainier. Nobody cares you are tying to get a killer sunrise photo. They’ll walk right in front of the camera. You’ll have to be very patient and crank off shots as soon as the landscape is clear!
What Is The Best Gear For Photographing An Autumn Sunrise At Paradise Meadows At Mt. Rainier?
If you want a wall art quality photo during sunrise at Paradise Meadows at Mt. Rainier or anywhere else there at sunrise you’ll probably want a tripod and a DSLR or mirrorless camera and a wide angle lens. At sunrise the light will be low. If you want to keep the ISO down and get a decent depth of field you’ll need to keep the shutter open for longer than you can handhold the camera and keep it steady. If you just want photos to post on social media, a decent cel phone or point and shoot camera may work OK, however if you are going to go to the trouble of going to Rainier for sunrise, it is absolutely worth taking the gear to get a better shot.
Mt. Rainier is of course a giant snow and ice covered peak in the middle of a huge alpine meadow full of summer of fall color. As such a typical 4×6 aspect ratio shot from a standard camera should work just fine. There may be some compositions that lens themselves to shooting panoramic shots. If you have old school (heavy DSLR) panoramic gear, you might want to carry it around but in the Paradise Meadows area I don’t think you’ll find many compelling shots that will benefit from shooting big panoramic shots.
What Is The Story Behind This Mount Rainier Paradise Meadows Sunrise Wall Art Photo?
Over the years I’d spend lots of time exploring the Pacific Northwest. There was lots or time spent at Olympic National Park, the Columbia River Gorge on both the Washington and Oregon side of the Gorge. When the US National Parks shut down one year I had to spend the time they were closed exploring the state parks of Oregon. I’d been to Mt Rainier a few times in the past but I always got there too late. By too late, I mean the snow already started falling and the road up to Paradise was a bit too much to drive with a Subaru Outback I didn’t want to try to put chains on and drive.
In 2016 when I went for the fall foliage I got to the park earlier in the year to ensure I’d actually be able to get up to Paradise and catch some of the stunning fall foliage. I had no reservations to stay anywhere and just slept in random places in the forest service areas. I think I may have gotten a campsite a few night in the park but never bothered to setup a tent because it was easier to just sit up in the car and turn it on than get the motivation to get up out of a sleeping bag into the chilly morning air and get going.
Every morning I was there I went to either Paradise Meadows or Reflection Lake. Paradise Meadows was definitely the better sunrise photo spot while I was there. There was nowhere else I was going to go and since I didn’t have a hotel room or anything to go back to I was going to be out in the wild all day no matter what.
Most mornings offered up pretty good photo conditions but people often streamed out of the Paradise Inn early in the morning and drove up from the nearby campgrounds. I noticed the John Muir quote on the steps to Paradise and was determined to get that in the shot. Most time around sunrise was spent waiting for people to climb the steps and get out of sight as they headed up to the rest of the trails around Paradise. At that point I was using a Canon 5D MK III and a fairly wide angle lens.
In What Formats Is This Mt. Rainier Paradise Sunrise Wall Art Print Available?
This print from sunrise at Paradise at Mt. Rainier is available in sizes up to 40×60 inches. It makes a good matte paper or canvas finish for virtually any location regardless of the surrounding lighting.
If you’ve got an area with diffused lighting and no really bright natural light coming in the room, something a bit more shiny may be a better or more desirable choice. This would include metal prints, acrylic prints, and glossy or metallic papers. The colors associated with all these options are pretty awesome but may reflect the surrounding environment or any bright light bulbs or lamps that don’t diffuse the light.
Shower curtains and Sherpa fleece blankets make nice home decor items. Due to the size and texture of those items, the image will not be as sharp as a print but will still look pretty awesome.
If you’d like something more mobile, there are cel phone cases available for more Apple and Samsung phones. A variety of apparel is available and the canvas tote bags are super sturdy and make great bags for grocery shopping now that many stores are doing away with plastic shopping bags.
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