Anyway - enough about our early holiday surprise and more about the photo...

So a few of us were crazy and headed up to Stevens Pass in the Cascades to welcome in 2008 last year on New Year's Eve. It was a ridiculously cold night, for camping at least, but all in all it was an experience that couldn't be beat, especially when everyone was sound asleep come midnight.

This shot was taken on the way up to our campsite as the sun began to set. It is a peaceful sight, especially in the comfort of the indoors! Stay warm!

With that in mind, I thought I'd share a picture from a few weeks ago when there was a nice frost in the foothills of the North Cascades. This was taken near a swamp where a heavy frost had left everything with a nice crisp, icy edge. What I really like about this image is its simplicity and the subtle contrast between the leaf and the green moss on the branch.

In honor of a wet Venice, this week I'm sharing a peaceful scene of a canal on the west side of Venice from the summer of 2005. I love the color of the city in this shot and the serenity of the canal.

The lake below this overlook is Peyto Lake as it sits nestled in one of the many valleys in the region. It's wonderful color is due to the collection of minerals and setiment that collect in the lake after melting from a small glacier further up the mountains (out of sight). During the year it is known to change colors as the collection of these minerals change in volume.

This is another one of those shots where I wish I could say that I hiked for 5 hours uphill to this beautiful vista, but sadly it was a quick half mile hike (still uphill) to this overlook from a fairly large parking lot. Another great example of beautiful, natural landscapes and asphalt living side by side.

Just a few miles into Denali, you realize that you are definitely somewhere different. The trees stopped growing tall miles before you reached the park, and the sky has not see darkness for weeks. But once you're in the park, you come to an understanding that this place in an unspoken way is unique.

This shot was taken on my first day at the park when I was dying to take photos. At the time the subject didn't amaze me, but I knew it held something special. But over time, this image has come to represent a lot of what Denali meant to me: a peaceful place.

I found these two trees in a small park in the town and laid beneath to look up at the colors. What I like about this shot is that it appears that the trees are reach for each other, almost as if they're in a race for the claiming the space between them.

So why the politically-motivated rhetoric? Well, this weekend once again opened my eyes to how important this election is and how much people care about its outcome. We just got back from a weekend in Colorado where we worked with the Obama campaign to get out the vote in Larimer County and Colorado's 4th district - a very conservative district essentially covering everything south of the Wyoming border and north of Denver. A big area to say the least. We worked with the great folks out of the Fort Collins office (home to the University of Colorado).

The experience was very uplifting. We worked side by side with others who cared dearly about this election and would often say that this is a 'once in a lifetime' event. We met people from across the country (and the world actually) and different walks of life who came together to elicit the kind of change that we would like to see come to America.

And we weren't alone. To rally the volunteers we had the opportunity to listen to and meet General Wesley Clark, Tom Daschle, Col. Senator Ken Salazar and Col. Senate hopeful Mark Udall. This is something I never really expected, I never get to meet important people - but here they were, side by side with us working for the same cause.

Anyway, I thought long and hard about whether or not to bring up politics in my Photo of the Week. But what it came down to is that I care too much to sit idly by and do nothing. So I ask that you vote, that you participate in this civic responsibility and then I'll just hope that you voted the way we did :).

Thanks.

What I love most about this image is how much it represents of the North Cascades to me. The rugged mountains, are the quintessential Alp-like peak found here, the dusting of snow along the hillside and of course the golden larch peppering the hill side in the autumn (directly below the peaks you can see these).

I have a few others from this weekend, so be sure to check them out: North Cascades National Park.

Our day started out at Chinook pass on the east side of the park where we did a nice hike around Naches Peak. There was fog looming everywhere and finally broke as we came to Tipsoo Lake (pictured above). It was an awesome hike filled with a lot of fall colors - in some spots it definitely looked like the hills were ablaze.

This past weekend's visit to Rainier probably marks the end of a year of many visits - a total of seven for me. It's great to be able to say that I've seen it under many different conditions, from fresh snow in January, to sunny, windy summer days and to golden hillsides in October.

I look forward to another year of exploring next year and many years to come.

This shot was taken from Kerry Park on Queen Anne hill in Seattle. I had gotten up early one more in hopes of catching a sunrise, but instead was greeted by fog and eventually rain - that's Seattle for you.

In this image you can of course see the Space Needle and behind it, the downtown of Seattle including the Columbia tower (tallest) and the Washington Mutual Tower (green top).

It really felt like the election was for the President of the World and not just the US. It was the top story in the news and on every news paper next to the daily gossip. I find this fascinating because for me at least it's never been the other way around - when do we actually know and feel great excitement for another country's election?

I write about this memory not to persuade votes one way or another, but more to offer a perspective of how the outside world views our choices and the importance they place upon them.

Anyway! Enough politics. This photo was actually taken the day before the election, I was feeling a bit stressed out so I went for a walk around the city. I kind of naturally ended up south of the Thames off of the Northern Line. What I captured is the London Eye, a sore spot for some, but a huge tourist draw for others. It moves ridiculously slow, but I was able to capture the time-elapsed movement nonetheless.

This is Mount Shuksan, a short distance away in the North Cascades National Park. I've been told it's the most photographed mountain in the world - I'm not so sure about that, but it is quite rugged and awe-inspiring.

Check out the rest of my photos from Mount Baker.

This is from our trip to San Francisco last September. We had an awesome trip with beautiful weather. One of the highlights, for me at least, was heading up to the Marin Headlands to checkout the view of the city. This is such a cliché shot, but it's still very cool to have the opportunity to take it.

One of the best outings this summer was a trip up to Lopez Island in the San Juans with a bunch of friends. We had exceptional weather and a care-free, relaxing experience. You can't beat that in the dead of summer.

This particular shot is from Shark Reef along the west side of Lopez Island. It's the final glimpse of the sun before it sets for the day. In the water you can see the motion of sea kelp swaying with the waves.

Shots like these take a lot of patience and create a lot of boredom as the shutter speed was 348 seconds. That's 348 seconds of twittling your thumbs. What's worse is that with exposures as long as this only a few will turn out in an evening and even on those you run the risk of a rogue helicopter or plane ruining everything. I was lucky on this shot and avoided both.

This shot was taken from the eastern side of Lopez Island near Mud Bay - a short distance from Paul Allen's (of Microsoft fame) estate in the San Juans.