Beyond the Dark Skies

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 10, 2010833 views31 comments

A dramatic sunset on Ama Dablam shortly after I took my image THE GIFT on my birthday in March, 2009. This is my favorite mountain on earth, and it dominates the view for the last few days of the trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal.

Canon 5D MkII 24-105 lens at 105.
I intentionally underexposed the image to add a bit of drama. This is a straight shot without any blending.
There is a bit of motion artifact from the howling wind despite weighing my tripod down with a stuff sack full of river rocks.

Thanks for looking and I appreciate any critiques.

-Mike

Comments

31 comments

Comment posted by Jeremy Kessler on December 10, 2010 at 5:08 AM

Incredible!

Registered on September 13, 2007, 36 Posts, 1283 Comments

Comment posted by Abdullaziz Bin Ali on December 10, 2010 at 5:30 AM

Nice to have some great remembrance from such a great location
Well done Mike

Registered on May 31, 2009, 112 Posts, 1590 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Anderson on December 10, 2010 at 5:35 AM

I knew you would enjoy this one Abdullaziz

Registered on January 31, 2006, 228 Posts, 3072 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on December 10, 2010 at 6:58 AM

The word majestic came to mind when I first saw this. Beautiful capture Mike!

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Arnab Banerjee on December 10, 2010 at 7:59 AM

My favorite mountain too - though I have not seen her for a long time. Thanks for posting this one - gorgeous light

Registered on January 3, 2007, 313 Posts, 2270 Comments

Comment posted by Andreas Resch on December 10, 2010 at 8:10 AM

That's a truly magical peak, Michael. The underexposure works great to bring out the light on the peak. Together with the purple/orange color contrast this one really shines. What a great way to spend your birthday.

Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments

Comment posted by Jason Miles Kirk on December 10, 2010 at 8:22 AM

Really nice image, Mike. Too bad about the camera shake - not too much you can do with wind like that. Just out of curiosity - what was the shutter speed? Could an ISO boost have helped?

Registered on January 9, 2007, 7 Posts, 55 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond D Smith on December 10, 2010 at 8:26 AM

The dark foreboding look and mood come off great here. The colour scheme along with the intentionally darken underexposed clouds works perfectly. A real nice way to spend your birthday for sure. There are a couple of photoshop plug-ins that could help with the slight motion blur definitely worth a try.

Registered on January 22, 2009, 12 Posts, 479 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Gomez on December 10, 2010 at 9:49 AM

Nice!!! Great job with the exposure. That makes this shot extremely dramatic!
The sad thing is that I can actually see the motion artifact. I was hoping you forgot to sharpen or that you can somehow otherwise fix that. That wind must have been really rough.
I just saw "The Gift", friggin' amazing!!!

Registered on March 3, 2007, 206 Posts, 1853 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on December 10, 2010 at 10:01 AM

Dramatic is an understatement. What a breathtaking views.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Laurent Baig on December 10, 2010 at 10:53 AM

Awesome!

Registered on January 12, 2005, 206 Posts, 6784 Comments

Comment posted by Miles Morgan on December 10, 2010 at 11:36 AM

Wow. That is just fantastic.

Registered on November 23, 2009, 6 Posts, 185 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on December 10, 2010 at 11:52 AM

Ama Dablam is such a majestic peak, and this is a beautiful rendering of it. Great job Mike!

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Paul DeCesare on December 10, 2010 at 12:13 PM

Epic.

Registered on August 31, 2007, 29 Posts, 202 Comments

Comment posted by dean hebert on December 10, 2010 at 12:26 PM

Stunning! I love the glow.

Registered on August 4, 2010, 70 Posts, 1132 Comments

Comment posted by Nicolaus Wegner on December 10, 2010 at 12:29 PM

Very dramatic Mike. Totally awesome.

Registered on February 21, 2010, 133 Posts, 1509 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Nevesely on December 10, 2010 at 12:30 PM

Fantastic image Mike. I love the light and the drama! Ama Dablam is one of my favorite mountains too.

Registered on June 14, 2005, 147 Posts, 1550 Comments

Comment posted by Adam Gibbs on December 10, 2010 at 12:57 PM

Love the light and drama Michael. Funny Ama Dablam has always been my favorite peak as well. At one time I really wanted to climb Ama Dablam, not so much now. I would be happy to photograph it though.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 168 Posts, 870 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Moore on December 10, 2010 at 1:31 PM

A really incredible image here, Mike. the underexposure works great for the drama and mood.

Registered on January 12, 2010, 84 Posts, 388 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on December 10, 2010 at 1:35 PM

That was some birthday. The GIFT is extraordinary and this one is no slouch.

- Dan.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments

Comment posted by Koveh Tavakkol on December 10, 2010 at 2:12 PM

Beautiful capture Mike. The purple and orange colors are incredible!

Registered on September 1, 2009, 41 Posts, 608 Comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on December 10, 2010 at 2:31 PM

Yea.. it's a teaser all right

I love the darkness, and the ever so slightly purplish mist. The detail on the mountain looks a little soft - I guess that's the motion artifact?

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Karsten Wrobel on December 10, 2010 at 4:58 PM

Mike, I love the contrast between the main peak bathed in golden light and the front peak almost completely swallowed up by the shadows...

Registered on November 1, 2008, 117 Posts, 851 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Haskell on December 10, 2010 at 5:18 PM

I prefer shots which aren't blending (too much of a traditionalist). This is magnificent!

Ian

Registered on October 30, 2008, 24 Posts, 673 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on December 10, 2010 at 5:29 PM

Drama, glory, majesty. You always do justice to this mountain.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Anderson on December 10, 2010 at 6:25 PM

A classic beauty!

Registered on September 6, 2007, 346 Posts, 2696 Comments

Comment posted by Jared Atencio on December 10, 2010 at 10:10 PM

What a dramatic view and the underexposure works very well. I agree about the softness (if there could be a nit with this) but still a very powerful and fantastic image.

Registered on June 23, 2009, 21 Posts, 422 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on December 11, 2010 at 12:05 PM

This is beautiful Michael. The dramatic lighting is perfect for this scene. This is a serious mountain! I really liked "The Gift" as well.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments

Comment posted by Bret Edge on December 11, 2010 at 12:41 PM

All about the drama and this is definitely the drama king. Out-freakin-standing, Mike.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 711 Posts, 6363 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 11, 2010 at 2:33 PM

Michael,

It's always a treat when you come here and post your phenomenal images from your travels. It is truly a "gift" for all.

What's to critique? I guess you could request the wind to stop for your work, but that may be asking a lot..

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on December 13, 2010 at 1:21 AM

Dramatic, moody, magnificent!

Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments