At the Edge of Winter

Gallery: LandscapePosted September 21, 2011148 views7 comments

This was taken along the Denali Highway (on the way back from the lottery drive through where I took the last pano I posted). As you can see, the weather was lousy with pouring rain and occasional snow but I really liked this little lake so I stopped, set up the tripod and shot a panorama of it. The rich, almost red colors of the wet grass was one of the attractions (vegetation and rocks always look so much better when they're wet). The dynamic range of the scene was pretty bad so I shot 3 exposures for each of the 7 vertical frames that made up the pano (21 photos in all). The result was worth it, with an impressive amount of detail that really can't be appreciated here, even in the large version. Hopefully you'll get some idea what I liked about the scene though.

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on September 21, 2011 at 2:56 AM

Well, i hate to say anything less than super enthusiastic after you mention all that hard work...I will say that it does say "quintessential Alaska" to me, which is a good thing, and I believe you about the detail. The problem i have, and if it's not a problem for you, then no big deal, is that all that dead brown is kind of a downer, so I'm not sure how you'll use the shot (presumably it's meant to be printed big--but the average joe public is gonna have a tough time matching this to their living room decor

) But i like the atmosphere--my only suggestion is to crop the extreme right to get rid of that intruding bush.

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

Comment posted by Doug Roane on September 21, 2011 at 9:41 AM

impressive blending and stitching job here, Gary. The detail in the grasses is awesome on the larger version. My preference would be for more space above the mountain and trees. The light isn't great for this wide a view, and the interesting mist/cloud covering part of the mountain isn't a big enough part of the frame to compensate for it IMO, but you did great for the conditions and I see what drew you to the scene

Registered on December 12, 2008, 213 Posts, 2226 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on September 21, 2011 at 9:47 AM

I like the comp and I have to disagree with Stan on the crop simply because I think it takes the symmetry away. This comp has the "v" line of the grass and water mirroring the v of the mountain above. I like the neutrals, but I do wish for a brighter color somewhere. I also like the clouds clinging to the peaks.

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

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on September 21, 2011 at 10:17 AM

I can see what drew you to this too, Gary. I bet in a large print the detail here would be wonderful. I enjoy scenes like this and this works quite well for me. I agree with Morris's comment totally. A little more color might be nice but I think you captured the mood and feel here very well.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on September 21, 2011 at 1:48 PM

Gary,

I'm really liking the rich color and detail of the grasses; brown or not.... it's more golden to me. I also really like the atmosphere and it certainly does speak Alaska. the main issue I have was touched on by Doug's comments. The clouds/atmosphere is almost too heavy up top and it just feels a little cramped; I'm wishing for some more space above the mountain and possibly even be able to distinguish more of the mountain to help echo the nice detail and texture below. But all that of course is completely out of your control, well, except for the crop and including more sky. Overall, this is quite good and and excellent job with the stitching and processing.

Lon

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

Comment posted by Gary Minish on September 21, 2011 at 11:05 PM

Stan; having lived in Alaska all my life I've really come to appreciate and even enjoy this side of nature. I also had no presumptions about the ability to sell this one either. It was shot purely for my own enjoyment, although with black velvet matting & a wood frame it actually works quite well with my off-white/beige wall. Who knows, maybe some other strange person in the world who has beige walls and likes the color brown will see this and buy a print

I agree with everyone about being cramped but unfortunately I was as wide as I could get even with the vertical shots. I knew it would be tight when I shot it but since the sky was nothing but blank white I figured it wasn't as important as the grass and rocks in front. I considered shooting two layers also but it was pouring rain and I was having trouble keeping the lens dry for the 21 shots. 21 more was pretty much out of the question and definitely more trouble than I wanted to go through for something I wouldn't be able to sell anyway. After getting home and stitching it I realized that I probably could have sacrificed a little of the grass at the bottom for the sake of better balance (hindsight sure is accurate!) Since the sky is pretty much solid white/gray I suppose I could fairly easily add some space but I'd have to fake a top for that one spruce tree on the far left.

Thank you all for the honest and constructive critiques, it was exactly what I was interested in hearing.

Registered on February 4, 2006, 625 Posts, 3583 Comments

Comment posted by Kent Mearig on September 22, 2011 at 12:22 AM

I do feel like the detail comes across to some degree in the larger version. The grass looks great, and I enjoy the panoramic composition. The format is not always that easy to pull off. If I can really see the texture of rain hitting the water, then I love it.

Registered on September 4, 2006, 237 Posts, 4748 Comments