Snake Drifts

Gallery: LandscapePosted January 7, 2013670 views28 comments

Twilight falls over Mount Moran and the Teton Range in Wyoming. The Snake River meanders through the midground.

Canon 40D, Sigma 10-20mm

Comments

28 comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on January 7, 2013 at 2:12 PM

Gorgeous Alex. This has such a wonderful mood to it - I can feel the cold, crisp air. Wonderful composition too.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on January 7, 2013 at 2:14 PM

Very nice indeed.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Navin Sarma on January 7, 2013 at 2:22 PM

Nice alex. You captured that fleeting moment between night and dawn (though I suspect exposures are at least a few minutes apart -- regardless, this is a scene I know I have seen with my own eyes). I like how you kept the trees mostly dark. Nice work

Registered on July 17, 2011, 233 Posts, 1373 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Anderson on January 7, 2013 at 5:00 PM

Great mood, nice comp, wonderful processing !

Registered on September 6, 2007, 346 Posts, 2696 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on January 7, 2013 at 5:52 PM

A very unique take on one of the most iconic locations out there. Love the textures in the snow and the glow in the mountains and stars combine to make a very satisfying image.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Pullen on January 7, 2013 at 6:59 PM

A different take from this iconic overlook, you did well. Ron

Registered on December 18, 2005, 74 Posts, 1413 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on January 7, 2013 at 7:50 PM

Sweet! Love the perspective and the stars are prefect. The trees get a little black/murky on the rhs of the river, but i imagine that wouldnt be an issue in a big print. I liked this so much i decided to post a Tetons shot of my own...

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

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on January 7, 2013 at 8:12 PM

Another excellent night image Alex. I like the perspective.... almost looks like you are on a ski slope ready to descend. The mountains and sky in the distance are gorgeous.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on January 7, 2013 at 8:24 PM

So good. Fun!

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Palmieri on January 7, 2013 at 9:59 PM

Real nice, I love the tones and colors. I slightly wish the stars were a bot more visible but I assume they are on a larger version.

Registered on September 1, 2011, 35 Posts, 748 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gosewisch on January 7, 2013 at 10:05 PM

Good road trip.

Registered on June 3, 2012, 17 Posts, 59 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on January 7, 2013 at 10:48 PM

Striking image and a view of the Tetons not seen before. I like everything about this image.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on January 7, 2013 at 11:35 PM

Exquisite twilight image, Alex. Really like the hint of detail in the trees in the foreground, the wonderful color in the clouds and the touch of stars. Really a remarkable image.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on January 8, 2013 at 12:17 AM

Fantastic. The red clouds contrast with the blues perfectly.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Chad Merrell on January 8, 2013 at 1:05 AM

An uncommon and wonderful image from a common location. Gorgeous. Beautiful yet foreboading.

Registered on July 8, 2010, 91 Posts, 304 Comments

Comment posted by Abdullaziz Bin Ali on January 8, 2013 at 11:36 AM

WOW

Alex, this is unbelievable

Registered on May 31, 2009, 112 Posts, 1590 Comments

Comment posted by Robb Hirsch on January 8, 2013 at 5:30 PM

Wow, that's beautiful. Great overall composition. Love the foreground snow, it makes an already lovely scene stunning.

Registered on February 15, 2011, 16 Posts, 70 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on January 8, 2013 at 7:11 PM

Alex, What an amazing scene...and view! This is fantastic!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

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

Comment posted by Brad Clinch on January 8, 2013 at 7:43 PM

Great composition and colors. The FG detail in the snow and how it leads the eye make the image.

Registered on January 5, 2013, 37 Posts, 261 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Reed on January 8, 2013 at 8:57 PM

The colours, The detail, The comp, The processing.... all fantastic.

Registered on September 19, 2009, 198 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Bob Miller on January 8, 2013 at 10:37 PM

Beautiful.

Registered on January 24, 2005, 152 Posts, 405 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Chamberlain on January 9, 2013 at 3:40 AM

Amazing shot. The mountains in the distance are so sharp. Incredible how the stars showed up so good. The dark trees are ok with me since it is almost night time.

Registered on January 6, 2013, 12 Posts, 44 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on January 9, 2013 at 11:25 AM

I really like the foreground snow as it pulls one into the image, like being at the brink of a waterfall. I am a little unsure about the whiteness of the left sky above the mountains, and might rid the bright spot of snow in the river by the tree tip. The combination of pink sky and stars is appealing.

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

Comment posted by Wick Smith on January 9, 2013 at 6:27 PM

Alex,
I really love your work on these twilight/night shots. This example is stunning!

Registered on June 12, 2009, 91 Posts, 379 Comments

Comment posted by Pavel Cakl on January 10, 2013 at 2:11 AM

Hi Alex,

this is amazing especially in a bigger version (I have looked at your website). I am just wondering how did you manage to have such a sharp background ? Did you do multiple exposures for DOF ?

Regards,
Pavel Cakl

Registered on April 8, 2010, 7 Posts, 178 Comments

Comment posted by Marylynne Diggs on January 10, 2013 at 6:22 PM

This is spectacular, in part because it is rare to see stars and sunset colors at the same time. Was this multiple exposures?

Registered on December 14, 2010, 122 Posts, 1034 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Noriega on January 10, 2013 at 8:25 PM

Thanks for the input, everyone!

Stan, the trees only look black on my recently-calibrated monitor in this 700px version. The detail would show up fine in a print, and is much more evident even at 1024px on a dark background.

Nick, indeed the stars are more visible in larger versions and in print.

Doug, the glow above the mountains is something I emphasized since that's the light source. Since my images tend to be pretty dark, and I don't want them looking dull or underexposed overall, and I've found the bright light source is a way to mitigate this. Nice catch on the snow spot in the river, I'll burn that down - thanks!

Pavel, I just used Live View and the DoF preview button to manually focus as close as I could at f/11 while keeping the mountain ridge in sharp focus. Since I was at 10mm actual focal length, f/11 was all that was needed to get front-to-back focus (one of the few consolations of being budget-constrained to a crop sensor).

Something I forgot to mention in the description is that these snow drifts are actually only a couple feet wide - the camera was probably only 6 inches off the ground, with the tripod legs nearly flat.

Registered on May 19, 2012, 80 Posts, 195 Comments

Comment posted by Drew M Wright on January 14, 2013 at 1:19 PM

Fabulous capture and excellent perspective!

Registered on June 18, 2008, 23 Posts, 106 Comments