This is the final installment of my trip as Photo Guide with Arizona Highways PhotoScapes to Crater Lake National Park in August.

I’m not gonna lie…the amount of smoke we encountered at Crater Lake was discouraging. But, what can you do? We shot anyway.

This first image is to show just how hazy it was out on the road around the park.

This image is facing away from the lake. Crater Lake is behind me. The hills full of large beautiful pine trees are barely visible.

The afternoon we arrived at Crater Lake Lodge the smoke was beginning to surround us and make visibility very difficult.

The morning shoots were better and the smoke gave us weird colored, dramatic skies.

Here’s the gang shooting a “Ghost Tree”.

It gave a new meaning to sunrise. We weren’t waiting for it to rise above the horizon but above the thick smoke that had laid down overnight.

The natural beauty of the location was hindered but the storytelling was in full swing.

Shooting Crater Lake is like shooting Grand Canyon. Pictures don’t do it justice. The sheer magnitude of what we were looking at was difficult to capture in a picture. And with the smoke, we were sorely lacking the brilliant blue color of the water and sky Crater Lake is famous for.

Feeling he had nothing to shoot, this photographer just sat down and enjoyed the view.

Seriously, when you can aim your lens directly at the sun and shoot without destroying your eyes or sensor you know you have thick smoke.

Don’t be discouraged when conditions aren’t perfect. Sometimes the imperfect makes for a better image and most certainly a more interesting story.

Happy Shooting!