Misty Sunrise

Lots of fog during my time at Rainier made for some interesting compositions and a lot of anticipation of views of the mountain that rarely came.

I've always been fascinated by the way the early morning sun sometimes appears as a white disc through a fog bank--looking almost like a full moon. I've wanted to get a shot like this for a long time. There were a lot of decisions to make about the exposure; but, in the end I decided to keep the sky fog darker than it actually was to preserve the drama in the sun spot as actually viewed by the eye.

The sky is held back by five stops at the very top and tapers all the way to the bottom of the image so no line is visible.

5D
17-40
.6s and 1/50s
Polarizer

Mile ,
A nice, moody image with good technicals. Very cool!

Oh yeah, for the record, the magenta paintbrush in this meadow did turn pink when backlit by the sun. Any kind of feedback/criticism on the image itself (and the creative decisions) is welcome!

I hear you Mike on the foggy conditions at Rainier. I got everything from crystal clear to pea soup with drizzle this last weekend. I really like this image with the foggy conditions you were working with, the processing is right on as well!

Fix the bowing trees and you've got youself a really nice print.

I really like this, Mike..

I'd like to see the sky just a smidge lighter. But I hasten to add that creating a mood, aided by post-processing, might be in the realm of personal taste. I'm struggling with a similar image (fog and white disc sun) taken at Grand Canyon. I like how fog softens the atmosphere and makes it more misty and dreamy. I tried something like what you've got here and felt that the sun became too distinct as a highlight rather than like it was part of the dream. I hope that makes some kind of sense...

Yeah, I know what you mean, Catherine--it makes sense. Thanks for the comments. I'd like to see your GC shot if you get it to where you would like to post it.