Waterfalls 2 Fire

This is an image of the Waterfalls 2 Fire burning in the western portion of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon. As of August 20, 2012, the fire has burned more than 6,000 acres of thick timber with much of the fire area in very difficult to fight terrain. The [url=http://www.ktvz.com/news/Waterfalls-2-Fire-makes-major-run-now-6-000-acres/-/413192/16196322/-/view/print/-/w0d64g/-/index.html]Waterfalls 2 Fire[/url image was taken from the parking lot of the Timberline Lodge at an elevation of 6,000 feet. We had just returned from a 2 mile hike to near the Zigzag canyon on the Timberline Trail for a sunset shot. We noticed the massive cloud formation created by the fire as we were ascending the road to the lodge. Initially we thought the cloud was a large thunderstorm but soon noticed that the cloud was touching the ground which indicated that the cloud was created by the firestorm from the Waterfalls 2 Fire. By setting the ISO at 3200 I was able to capture the red glow of the fire along with the stars in the night sky. The image was made one hour after sunset. The light on the foreground trees comes from the lights of Timberline Lodge. Suffice it to say we were in awe of nature's fury but also with the beauty that nature provides.