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Sky Fire
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Sky Fire

by James Fougère

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 19, 2010566 views22 comments
I had the privilege to spend a 7 day (solo) back-country trip in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park in BC during mid September 2010. On my first evening there, I hiked 1.5 km from my campsite to Sunburst Lake to take some sunset images of Mt Assiniboine with the rising moon reflecting on the lake. When dusk arrived, I started to pack up my gear, I looked up in the direction of the setting sun, and was shocked to see this unique light show! It reminded me of an aurora display! During my stay at Assiniboine, the grizzly activity was "high". I ran into a mother and cubs earlier that day! It was an amazing feeling to be next to that lake that evening with the bears.

I realize that I could have cropped out Sunburst peak and focused on the reflection, but to have this kind of light show next to a 3000ft rock face was amazing!

I have spent the last 2 years taking photo's, and have only used Lightroom to process my images. I have Photoshop, and will be moving forward shortly to learn how to use it. I am not sure if Photoshop would have given me a better "final" result with this image. I look forward to your comments.

I was also lucky to be there for 2 separate snow storms :biggrin:
I will post some more images from my trip.

Comments

22 comments
Comment posted by Marc Adamus on December 19, 2010 at 10:09 PM
Totally surreal and amazingly luminous. I love how the huge, dark peak looms in the darkness, barely visible but yet lending just enough sense of place and focus to the image.
Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments
Comment posted by Koveh Tavakkol on December 20, 2010 at 12:37 AM
Beautiful sho!. I really like the inclusion of that massive peak on the left.
Registered on September 1, 2009, 41 Posts, 608 Comments
Comment posted by Mohammad Al-Mumen on December 20, 2010 at 6:21 AM
Great shot!
I would like to second Charlie on his comment

Registered on December 8, 2010, 12 Posts, 56 Comments
Comment posted by Guy Tal on December 20, 2010 at 7:26 AM
I love the palette of purples and the wonderful cloud patterns. Truly a fantastic image and must have been an amazing experience.

Guy
Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments
Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on December 20, 2010 at 9:48 AM
A very striking landscape. The conditions seem almost spiritual.
Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments
Comment posted by Wade Hardy on December 20, 2010 at 9:53 AM
Wow! The streaks of clouds and color and the reflection are really cool. Sounds like a great backpack trip too. Great work!
Registered on May 2, 2006, 121 Posts, 1824 Comments
Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on December 20, 2010 at 10:16 AM
This is amazing. I love the intense light in the streaking clouds, and near silhouettes every where else. A beautiful image!

Chris
Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments
Comment posted by Nick Bristol on December 20, 2010 at 10:41 AM
Beautiful. Amazing sky and color.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI.
Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments
Comment posted by Justin Reznick on December 20, 2010 at 11:12 AM
Wonderful, rich purples and, as Marc mentioned, the peak looming in the darkness caps off this great image.
Registered on November 24, 2009, 79 Posts, 515 Comments
Comment posted by Nicolaus Wegner on December 20, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Creative photograph James. Simple composition yet upon further study there is quite a bit going on. Works for me as is. I'm sure you could push things further with photoshop, but sometimes it's good not to push things too far.
Registered on February 21, 2010, 133 Posts, 1509 Comments
Comment posted by James Fougère on December 20, 2010 at 11:19 AM
I also agree that a little more detail on the face of Sunburst peak would be appealing, but being back lit, I doubt I have much more to work with in the RAW file. Thank you for the comments!

Here is another version of the sunset without the mountain, and a few minutes later.
Registered on October 25, 2010, 41 Posts, 831 Comments
Comment posted by Kurt Budliger on December 20, 2010 at 11:32 AM
:toast:Lovely :toast:
Registered on June 11, 2006, 113 Posts, 2116 Comments
Comment posted by Luis Argerich on December 20, 2010 at 12:14 PM
A magical scene and a fantastic photo, terrific!
Registered on December 22, 2009, 91 Posts, 1349 Comments
Comment posted by Robert Dayton on December 20, 2010 at 12:25 PM
Stunning light and color, James! Thanks for sharing, and
I'm looking forward to future postings.
Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments
Comment posted by Mat Malone on December 20, 2010 at 12:27 PM
Hey James, good to see you posting on NPN! Beautiful image!
Registered on December 15, 2008, 91 Posts, 882 Comments
Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on December 20, 2010 at 12:34 PM
Amazing capture, James! :toast:
Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments
Comment posted by Kyle L. Krause on December 20, 2010 at 3:59 PM
James, your repost is amazing. I think it is a much stronger image. Just beautiful! :toast:
Registered on June 15, 2010, 29 Posts, 605 Comments
Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 20, 2010 at 6:13 PM
James,

I failed to make a comment on your first post, so I wanted to make sure and give you a welcome to NPN and the ES&S Gallery! Welcome aboard. You've started off with some great imagery.

The light show you got to witness and capture is amazing! Now initially I thought the mountain/peak was too heavy and dark on the left, but it's creating such great mood and mystery that really supplements the beautiful light show and reflection in the right side.

My only nit and this is really a personal choice is that the magenta/purple is a little too strong for my taste. I wasn't there of course, but it's a little like "Velvia gone wild" and unchecked.

Second image is killer too!

Thanks for sharing and welcome!

Lon
Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments
Comment posted by James Fougère on December 20, 2010 at 9:32 PM
Thank you everyone for all your comments :smile:

Lon, I did notice that the purple/magenta was a bit strong in the JPG version of these 2 images. My monitors are calibrated, but when I export from Lightroom, every option changes the image somewhat. Meaning, RGB or sRGB, etc. I find it hard to get the image right once it is converted to a JPG. I understand that in Photoshop there are ways to avoid this. I must learn to be able to do this. I do appreciate your comment. Thank you
Registered on October 25, 2010, 41 Posts, 831 Comments
Comment posted by Abdullaziz Bin Ali on December 21, 2010 at 8:32 AM
D R E A M
Registered on May 31, 2009, 112 Posts, 1590 Comments
Comment posted by Yan Zhang on December 21, 2010 at 1:53 PM
This is the type of image I really like. The dramatic sky and its reflection make this image very attractive. The dark pink huge is also very special.
Registered on April 10, 2010, 28 Posts, 292 Comments
Comment posted by Arild Heitmann on December 22, 2010 at 5:00 AM
Fantastic tones and luminousity.... Kinda magical in a way...

Congrats!
Registered on October 13, 2010, 27 Posts, 378 Comments