Longs Peak Light Rush

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 9, 2011756 views19 comments

From Storm Peak I watched a sunset that I will never forget. No clouds, however sweet, sweet light. Storm Peak is about 13,300-ft, Longs resides at about 14,255-ft. The sun setting light you get at that elevation is surreal. The very last rays of light at 14,000-ft are actually much lower than the horizon, from lower elevations. The lower the horizon light, the better.

My question to you is about composition. With a vertical, somewhat narrow comp, it seems I should have centered the summit of Longs in the photo, however while in the field it never crossed my mind. I got sucked into foreground comp and letting the great mountain finish the image off. With the summit area slightly off center to the left, however including the protruding boulder off to the right, does this work with your eye?

BTW, I am aware of the tripod leg that's visble. Forgot to clone that darn thing out!

Canon 5d II
Nikon 14-24
17mm

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Verdon on July 9, 2011 at 8:23 PM

It is great moment and also quality is very nice, seems to little bit to tide for my taste.... Congrats too nice shot!!!

Registered on June 10, 2011, 147 Posts, 1444 Comments

Comment posted by Benjamin Olson on July 9, 2011 at 11:32 PM

I really like your composition a lot, and the colors are fantastic! My only nit is your tripod leg is protruding into the bottom left of the image.

Registered on April 7, 2007, 169 Posts, 725 Comments

Comment posted by Kane Engelbert on July 10, 2011 at 1:27 AM

Wow, what a blunder!! I uploaded the wrong image, yikes! Thanks for the heads up on that tripod leg. Where's my spot healing brush when you need one.

Registered on June 14, 2009, 63 Posts, 291 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on July 10, 2011 at 9:13 AM

Oh, I love that beautiful red alpenglow. The composition works well for me, with the foreground rock and summit balancing each other in two powerful positions in the frame.

Guy

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

Comment posted by Jorne de Bruin on July 10, 2011 at 10:00 AM

Very nice composition and the glow on the rocks is great!

Registered on June 26, 2008, 178 Posts, 2136 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on July 10, 2011 at 2:14 PM

So this is alpenglow up close? I can see what you mean by sweet. Intensely warm but not overly bright. I think this all works great. Storm clouds would have actually been pretty scary, I'd think.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Pelton on July 10, 2011 at 2:58 PM

Composition and color sure works for me. Outstanding scene.

Registered on November 25, 2003, 380 Posts, 4647 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on July 10, 2011 at 4:02 PM

For an image with no cloud action the light here with the nice composition makes this outstanding IMO!!!

It also makes me look forward to some climbs! Great capture!

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Joshua Hardin on July 10, 2011 at 5:25 PM

I'm constantly impressed by your different angles on some of our Colorado icons. The vertical image here is even better than the RMNP Forum horizontal counterpart. Nicely done!

Registered on July 29, 2006, 40 Posts, 414 Comments

Comment posted by Jared Atencio on July 10, 2011 at 5:30 PM

INSANE apocalyptic alpenglow here Kane! I need some SPF 50 just looking at this. There is a touch of unevenness in the sky I may try to smooth out just a bit, otherwise clone out that tripod leg and print this thing up

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

Comment posted by Stan Rose on July 10, 2011 at 5:46 PM

This is why i dont understand the comments on RMNP--this is perfectly composed and perfectly processed, its so much better than your RM post its not even in the same ball park. The high point actually is pretty close to center here--regardless the placement is fine. Nice shot!

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Pam Colander on July 10, 2011 at 6:25 PM

Give yourself a BIG pat on the back for this one!

Registered on December 7, 2006, 210 Posts, 1062 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on July 10, 2011 at 7:05 PM

I'm not sure why an image this excellent isn't getting more comments. Maybe because you have almost a 1 to 1 ratio on your comments to posts, so the more you comment here, the more feedback you will get. Kind of a reciprocity effect.

Still, you should have loads more comments on a very rare shot with such great light and color!

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

Comment posted by Sarah Marino on July 10, 2011 at 10:39 PM

Hi Kane - the warm light is really wonderful here. While I think I would like a centered composition more, the boulder on the right seems to help balance the peak on the left. The curve up to the peak is nice, as well. I am sure this was a beautiful scene to witness.

Registered on November 10, 2008, 23 Posts, 393 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on July 10, 2011 at 10:56 PM

The glow on this image is more apparent than the one shown in RMNP probably due to the addition of the foreground rocks. The increase in space above the peak helps, as does the vertical comp.

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments

Comment posted by Mat Malone on July 10, 2011 at 11:50 PM

Wow that's some amazing glow. Very cool red/blue contrast. I wouldn't have noticed the placement of the peak unless you mentioned it. Comp is good but my only nit about the is that the FG is a little busy for me, even without the tripod leg.

Registered on December 15, 2008, 91 Posts, 882 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on July 11, 2011 at 11:16 AM

What a great shot, and such a unique vantage point, enhanced even more by the rich sunset colors. Comp is spot on. I would have loved to climb Longs this year but there was just to much snow still!

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Art Escobado on July 11, 2011 at 6:52 PM

I like how you composed the main peak against the smaller peak for a sense of depth. The lighting is great and this needs no clouds. I didn't notice the tripod until I read a comment.

Registered on January 7, 2007, 0 Posts, 775 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on July 11, 2011 at 7:43 PM

Great comp and exposure as is. Everything falls into place for me, and the molten rock color is intense but very believable. What a perch you had!

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments