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Great Gulf
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Great Gulf

by Harry Lichtman

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 10, 2012315 views17 comments
Last weekend I completed a traverse of NH's Presidential Range during a long day. Had plenty of time to scout photo potential for some areas I have yet to shoot. This was one of the views, and difficult to get to during those times when the light is most colorful. There is really no place to camp nearby, and the Appalachian Mountain Club huts are too far away to make it a great option. Needless to say it was a very long hike in the night & wind in order to reach this viewpoint on the edge of the Great Gulf. I decided to go for it the other day when the weather looked like it would cooperate and the foliage still looked as fresh as it did last weekend. Got lost a few times on the talus slopes, but eventually found my way and beat the sunrise. Unfortunately no great clouds, but did get some strong directional light which lit up the textured alpine garden. Mounts Adams and Madison can be seen in the distance. I had a strong magenta / red cast in the shadows which I tried to correct. I had wanted to move in closer on those corn lilies an make them more of the FG, but I was perched on a rock and really couldn't change my position without trampling the alpine ground cover. I zoomed in to 35mm to help show off their beautiful form.

5 shots @ ISO 800 to freeze the blowing greenery mnts, blended.
1 shot for the sky exposure.

How do those shadow mnt's. color cast look? Thanks in advance.

Comments

17 comments
Comment posted by Brian Schrayer on July 10, 2012 at 8:12 PM
This is a beauty of a shot, Harry. Clouds or no clouds this makes a great image. I love the warm light bathing the foreground complimented by the layers of mountains receding off into the distance, which by the way almost look like they could be in the Rockies. It looks like this was well worth the effort to reach this location. Thanks for sharing this!!
Registered on May 28, 2004, 114 Posts, 2890 Comments
Comment posted by Eva McDermott on July 10, 2012 at 9:19 PM
Spectacular light Harry! The mountains look very natural to me especially with side lighting. Gorgeous scene.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments
Comment posted by Nick Bristol on July 10, 2012 at 9:41 PM
Harry, What it looks like is.. Beautiful. The colors look great and I love the light you caught. Nice work with you comp as well. An image worth your efforts... :smile:

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI
Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments
Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on July 10, 2012 at 9:52 PM
Took my breath away! This is beyond beautiful with the light shining through the leaves of the corn lily and washing the near slope. Hands down the best landscape I've seen in a while. Great job
Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments
Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on July 10, 2012 at 9:54 PM
Wonderful, Harry. I like the contrasting colors on the foreground plant and again with the bluish rocks further in. The sky feels a bit pale compared to the land. Either darker or more saturation might be something to experiment with.
Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments
Comment posted by Vlad Sadovsky on July 11, 2012 at 12:21 AM
Very nice alternations of yellows and greens, contrasting with the mountains. Colors and light are just nice. Sky slightly less so. Shadows mountains appear fine to me, just bluish enough to be natural.
Registered on November 12, 2010, 48 Posts, 358 Comments
Comment posted by Zack Clothier on July 11, 2012 at 1:00 AM
Beautiful scene Harry. Kudos for not stepping on the fragile alpine plants just to get a better angle, I think this works very well as is. The shadows look good but I'm also viewing this from my phone since my laptop crashed on me a few days ago.
Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments
Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on July 11, 2012 at 1:41 AM
Wow! Great use of light to make everything come alive Harry.
Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments
Comment posted by Scott Miller on July 11, 2012 at 3:09 AM
The light on the leaves in the foreground is stupendous Harry. The only thing I would work on is the sky. I'm not sure if you can pull some more color out of it or not, but that is where I would work.

Great shot!
Registered on May 9, 2011, 23 Posts, 322 Comments
Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on July 11, 2012 at 6:36 AM
Thanks for the comments. Tony and Scott - I adjust the sky slightly, though it was so clear it was most light blue sky above. I tried to adjust a little- good recomendations.

I realize the far distant mnts on the right are angled a bit from the lens angle the camera was at. Not sure if that bothers anyone - didn't really concern me at the time I took the phot or during processing, but I guess I could correct that portion with a little warp of that part? Maybe just leave as is.
Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments
Comment posted by Wick Smith on July 11, 2012 at 8:27 AM
Great color & great light. I was going to suggest getting closer to the foreground flora, but then I read your comment. Thanks for being mindful of that. We all need to be more careful of where we step!
Registered on June 12, 2009, 91 Posts, 379 Comments
Comment posted by Jim Salge on July 11, 2012 at 8:29 AM
Wow...love this angle on the Northern Presis...and such a great anchor for the eyes. Love this! :toast:
Registered on February 23, 2006, 269 Posts, 2210 Comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on July 11, 2012 at 10:32 AM
The image (and the lighting in particular) is spectacular! I especially like the backlit glow in the corn lilies and the magenta cast to the far distant mountains.
Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on July 11, 2012 at 11:36 AM
I love the warm beautiful side light here. The cmountain shaodow contrast well with the warm foreground. I really like it as is.
Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments
Comment posted by Peter Richter on July 11, 2012 at 4:44 PM
Great lighting, delightful details in the foreground and an appealing composition leading into the distance for me, Harry.

I prefer your first version, the clear and bright sky shows the silhouette of the mountain chain at its best in my opinion.

Peter
Registered on November 10, 2010, 218 Posts, 2723 Comments
Comment posted by Andreas Resch on July 12, 2012 at 9:11 AM
Wonderful shot and great job on the post-processing. The backlit leafs are just amazing. I slightly prefer the repost.
Registered on November 14, 2007, 322 Posts, 6101 Comments
Comment posted by Oleg Kuchorenko on August 4, 2012 at 1:32 PM
:toast:
Registered on July 2, 2012, 9 Posts, 111 Comments