Mount Lassen and the Chaos Crags during the Reading Fire, August 2012

 Mount Lassen is a volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range. It was the last volcano to erupt in California, in 1914 through 1917. During our visit in August, 2012, there was a forest fire northeast of Mount Lassen near a feature called the Chaos Crags. It became known as the Reading Fire. The road through the park was closed, but we still could get in at the southern end and loop around outside the park to get to the north end. While camping near the north end of the park we took our canoe and kayak out onto Manzanita Lake.We paddled from the south end to the north looking for a variety of angles to photograph the scenery around us.

This image was taken while sitting in a canoe and involved capturing 3 images and using the computer to combine them. This process is referred to as stitching or merging. You have to make sure that about 10 to 20 percent of the edges of each shot overlap and that the camera settings are similar, then the computer can find the parts and put them together seamlessly. Mount Lassen is at the right, the Chaos Crags are at the center, and the smoke from the Reading Fire is at the upper left.  This image is best printed at about a 2 to 1 ratio, so an 8 x 16 inch page would work best.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.