Dave's PhotoJournal for September 25th, 2005, Part 3 of 4

So, we arrived at the western edge of Cheakamus Lake. The trail continues for awhile around the lake, but we didn't see much reason to keep going. We found a nice spot to sit down and relax. That was what had become the theme for the whole weekend, afterall, is a nice, relaxing, romantic trip. So why not just sit in the sunshine next to the lake, having a snack, listening to the water and the waves?

This is where you really get the first view of the lake. This is at the point where it's a little fuzzy if you're looking at the river or the lake. I liked this picture a lot, but unfortunately, it was tilted a bit to the left (it's so hard to get pictures with big bodies of water to not be tilted), and there was that person sitting there next to that log. I NEVER do stuff like this, but I couldn't help it this time. I tweaked the picture a bit in photoshop. The rest of the photo was too good to not do it. Look at the next picture to see the result.

Very subtle changes, but I think they make the image quite a bit better. I didn't tweak colors or anything like that though, this is still the raw feed from the camera, I promise. This picture can be seen in Rate Dave's Photos.

A bit of a different view. As long as I was into the whole tweaking images thing, I figured I may as well get this one too. That little bit of tree in the upper left really wasn't adding anything, so I took it out.

That's fair, right? Those two are the only ones I did it to. This picture can be seen in Rate Dave's Photos.

This is a very similar picture, but slightly to the right. The effect of that is you can no longer see all of the shore on the left. I liked it better with the shore, since then it makes a nice little line that your eye can follow, all the way up to the mountains in the background. Perhaps that just means I spend way too much time staring at every little tiny difference in my pictures. But at least this time, I'm telling you why I kept both of them, and what the difference is (in my eyes), instead of just putting up both of them, with a snide remark like "Another picture that's almost exactly the same!"

I like this one too, since it emphasizes the mountain more. But it's slightly tilted, and I was too lazy to put this one in Rate Dave's Photos. If you think it's worthy, let me know, I'll get in there for your voting pleasure.

I took a ton of shots, because I was awestruck with the view. Pictures don't do it justice, since the view was just so.... BIG. This one is tilted. It's so hard to get it not tilted, especially if you're kneeling when you take the picture.

The view, complete with a little bit of fall color from the opposite shore of the river. This picture can be seen in Rate Dave's Photos.

Zoomed in a bit on the glacier across the lake. I could stare at that glacier for hours. In fact, I almost did.

View from a little further along the trail.

Zoomed in super close.

A little to the right.

Julie sitting next to the lake.

...and me.

Dangit, Julie. Look at the camera.

There we go.

You know, we should probably take one that actually takes advantage of the awesome view right behind us... Now if we could just get rid of the plastic bag between us...

A cool red bush near where we were sitting. This picture can be seen in Rate Dave's Photos.

Another, not quite as good, picture of the bush.

Another big peak, just barely visible. I think this might actually be Cheakamus Peak, or Mt. Cheakamus, whichever.

Zoomed way in on that other mountain. Looks like they've got a bit of fall color going on up there.

Driftwood on the shore of Cheakamus Lake. I thought I could get a cool picture with this in the foreground, so I tried a bunch of times. It never quite materialized the way I had hoped.

I think the wood just isn't quite interesting enough.

Julie in front of Cheakamus Lake.

Same, with flash.

Julie always makes fun of my butt crack, which apparently has a tendency to stick out when I bend over. This is, of course, exaggerated quite a bit.. But damn! My arse be ugly!

Similar to the driftwood, I thought I might be able to get a great picture with these rocks in the foreground. As you can see, I had a huge amount of trouble with the tilt. And in the end, I decided it wasn't working as well as I wanted, so I didn't feel it was necessary to keep trying until I got the tilt right.

So, that's all you get.

Part 2 Up Part 4