St. Helens Blown Down

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 16, 2013422 views12 comments

Spend a weekend at Mount St. Helens. We were lucky to arrive and heard one of the forest ranger giving a talk on Mount St. Helens. Long story short, this was a modern day side eruption instead of commonly thought of vertical eruption. This was the first side eruption that scientist/geologist had the chance to study. Classification of three zones were giving after the eruption, zone I where the land slide occur, zone II for the blown down trees, and zone III for standing trees with seared branches. I question my girlfriend why the two shades of blue in the water and she reminded me of the old growth that was blown down by the blast. It’s hard to imagine the scale of waves caused by the land slide that could blast up the hills and carry the old growth down into the lake.

5Dii 16-35 at 22mm, F11, 1/8 Sec, ISO 200, Tripod, 2 Exposures

Your comments and critiques are welcomes.

Thanks,
Zho

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Allen Brooks on July 16, 2013 at 11:23 AM

Very nice view showing the destruction, new growth, new lake and the blow out on the side of the mountain.

Registered on July 27, 2011, 262 Posts, 2597 Comments

Comment posted by Navin Sarma on July 16, 2013 at 11:27 AM

That's pretty awesome. I like the cool/purple toning, looks very natural. I might wish for a little more room at the bottom, but it's nice as is.

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

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on July 16, 2013 at 12:03 PM

Lovely pastels in this scene, Zho. The image shows the destruction caused by the eruption but also the regeneration that is taking place in it's wake. Like Navin, I too would have liked a bit more room at the bottom, but that may not have been possible. Either way this is nicely done.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Tom Hilton on July 16, 2013 at 12:54 PM

Your large image is outstanding.
Excellent comp, textures and processing
Well done.

Registered on September 19, 2011, 68 Posts, 668 Comments

Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on July 16, 2013 at 3:11 PM

Destruction can even bring a beautiful photo. I like how the dead branches lean out into the foreground leading you to the lake and Mount Saint Helens and the valley adds to that also. Nice work!

Registered on September 29, 2009, 137 Posts, 2659 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Turner on July 16, 2013 at 4:46 PM

The comp is fine with me, outstanding. The only nit I have is that the dead wood should have a more bleached white color. Seems the magenta tint is little off, but I was not there.

This could look good in bw also.

Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on July 16, 2013 at 8:46 PM

this really captures the whole story of the St Helens eruption and recovery. The lingering light adds some nice color.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on July 16, 2013 at 9:56 PM

Zhoen,

Thank you so much for the back story, it really makes this image worth exploring. As a straight landscape, it's still a beautifully composed and captured image.

No real nits here, but would echo Rick's comments about the color of the white-washed, weathered wood at the bottom. I'd say more blue than magenta, but I'd like more nuetral; although in fairness, it matches the overall color balance of the scene.

No matter, still a great take from the aftermath of the Mt. St. Helens eruption.

Lon

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

Comment posted by David Edwards on July 18, 2013 at 3:57 AM

Fantastic capture of the light and color Zhoen. Love the pink/purple tones. I can only imagine how interesting it would be to explore the aftermath of such an event. Nice one.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 142 Posts, 2623 Comments

Comment posted by Zhoen on July 18, 2013 at 4:07 PM

Thank you all for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate all your inputs.

Navin, I do agree that the bottom can use more room. The hill on the upper left continues on up, and trying to achieve symmetry between the upper corners while maintain the ratio at 2:3 I had to crop the bottom off a little. Next time I will see if I can shift to the right just a bit.

Rick and Lon thank you for your comments on the wood, I did go back and masked out that area using TK’s mask.

Zho

Registered on May 16, 2013, 25 Posts, 188 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on July 19, 2013 at 4:06 PM

Was here the other day and after being there I have to applaud you for this one. Great shot!

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

Comment posted by Bill Reid on July 21, 2013 at 9:38 AM

I'm a little late to the dance here Zhoen. Beautiful image. I like the tones in this and a very nice composition also. Looks like an amazing place to visit and you've done a great job here.

Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments