A Moment in Time

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 21, 201714,603 views14 comments

I made this picture at the end of September last fall while in Upper Michigan. I was in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness Area along Lake Superior and it had been raining for several days. It was also rather cold and quite windy to go along with all the rain. On this morning I headed out early just to see what it would be like up at the Lake of the Clouds at sunrise. While waiting in the dark, wind and fog I could see that the sky was finally starting to break open a bit. It turned out to be some pretty impressive conditions that morning and this is one of the pictures I made. Only one other photographer up there that morning and we had a nice time shooting together. Larger version included. Thanks, Nick
Canon 5D3, 24-105L @ 105mm, ISO 640, F/16 and 0.4 sec exp.

Comments

14 comments

Comment posted by Prashant Khapane on May 21, 2017 at 1:30 PM

nice, the light is superb. I can imagine the thrill of being there. Love the blueish tone in the river and the flow. My only nit is the tree on the LHS. it somehow blocks the flow of the image abruptly.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 492 Posts, 4580 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on May 21, 2017 at 2:24 PM

Nick,

Awesome, fantastic, striking! For me, the swirling mist right of center catching the early light is what makes this image special. And there is more to enjoy as well including the patterns in the lake and the wonderful color contrast between the blues and the yellow/orange. that patch of blue in the triangle of the ridge makes for a nice anchor to explore from.

One of those moments in time you won't soon forget experiencing.

Lon

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

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on May 21, 2017 at 2:36 PM

Thanks Prashant and Lon! I really appreciate getting your thoughts and glad you liked it. Yes, it was one special morning that I will remember for a long while. Watching the conditions and light change was just amazing to me.
Lon, You gave me a better title name so I changed it.Thanks! Nick

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

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on May 21, 2017 at 3:53 PM

Beautiful, Nick. Great colors and dramatic scene. It must have been a glorious morning.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Cameron on May 21, 2017 at 4:36 PM

That's a stunning bit of light you have over yonder lake there Nick. On my screen the cyan triangle of sky underneath the cloud is a wee bit too electric but everything else looks bang on.

Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments

Comment posted by Igor Doncov on May 21, 2017 at 5:29 PM

I agree with Lon that the sunlit mist on the right side makes this image to a large extent. The overall vagueness of the landscape in contrast to the sharply defined tree ridge. The small light streaks in the dark woods at the end of the lake is something you could remove if you wanted.

Registered on November 22, 2014, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on May 21, 2017 at 10:01 PM

Beautiful atmospherics for sure, Nick. The drama in the sky is quite striking and I love that sunlit cloud on the right side of the frame. My only suggestion; and this is just a personal preference; would be to clone out those two light areas along the shoreline at the end of the lake. It had to be great to witness this first hand as it started tto unfold.

Ed

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

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on May 22, 2017 at 7:09 PM

Thanks guys for your comments on this. It certainly was a wonderful morning to be at Lake of the Clouds. The highlights at the back of the lake are off of the river that flows into the lake. I really had not considered removing them because I know what it is, but now I can see that could be an option with this image. Thanks so much for your thoughts! Nick

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

Comment posted by Mattia Oliviero on May 23, 2017 at 5:08 AM

Great moment of light, Nick. My only suggestion would be to enlighten a little bit the lake in order to slightly balance the exposure with the dark mountains. Just a technical question: why did you use ISO 640 if you had to use the tripod anyway? Is it because you did not want a very long exposure? Thank you.

Mattia

Registered on August 24, 2016, 43 Posts, 254 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on May 23, 2017 at 8:39 AM

Thanks Mattia, I really wanted to try and keep the exposure less than 1/2 sec and at f/16 that took an ISO of 640. I didn't want the texture in the water to smooth out to much and hopefully keep the trees from moving to much as well because there was some wind. I did do several other exposures that were shorter and longer but this one seemed to work best for me. I appreciate getting your thoughts and thanks! Nick

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

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on May 23, 2017 at 7:07 PM

It's nice when these things happen and when you're ready to take advantage of it. You've really brought through some beautiful light and color.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on May 23, 2017 at 9:10 PM

The windswept water contrasts with the calm feel that the sunset sky gives me. I saw a sky like this just last weekend and it was pretty cool to see. I wonder about a little added vignette in the upper right to balance the left corner partially.

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

Comment posted by gary phillips on May 24, 2017 at 9:18 PM

Wonderful Nick. I love the intensity of the conditions here, and you did an amazing job capturing the moment. Love it.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on May 29, 2017 at 7:11 PM

Tony, Doug and Gary, Thanks guys! It was one wonderful morning after several windy and rainy days.

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