Tarn in heaven

Hey everyone,

I've been on and off on the NPN for a few years now, mostly just observing, absorbing and being blown away buy the pictures that come up here. I started posting a few of mine about a year ago but quickly drifted away again. I decided to try coming back to stay this time . I still take most of my pictures just as a "side thing" on my projects, my traveling souvenirs, but I'm not focusing enough on the process and the real art of taking photos itself, though, I would really like to be able to push that limit. I also have trouble to invest myself into digital processing because it eats up too mush time and I'm never really sure that the results are worth it.

I recently arrived to New Zealand for a 5 month field research project on a charming alpine parrot - the kea (picture to come). I got my self a new piece of equipment, a 14mm f2.8 EX Sigma lens to try to do some justice to this fantastic country that no words could describe. Here is one of my first results - a paradisiacal tarn on a remote ridge with no trail in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. I shot the scene shortly before the sunrise.

Canon EOS 40D + Sigma EX 14mm f5 1/40s hand-held

bumped up contrast and clarity on Lightroom. I also used Lithroom graduated filter to darken the top half.

I imagine that the first improvement would be a tripod but unfortunately our backpacking conditions and the amount of gear does not always allow this luxury..

Any suggestions?
Looking forward to your comments!