We spent a couple of sunsets hanging out on a bridge that crosses the Athabasca River just outside of Jasper. Left to right is the Maligne Range, Mt. Hardisty and Mt. Kerkeslin. No funny business on the colors - the river really is that color.
Best (or weirdest) part of this evening though was a Brit who was driving across the bridge just as this scene was coming together. He stops the car on the bridge, hops out, walks over, sits over my shoulder - literally breathing on my neck from about 6" away - and, after I take a shot, says "Mind if I ask what you're looking at? Is there an animal down there on the banks?" I paused...for a while...answered no, and explained that I was just shooting the sunset. He says "oh...it is quite nice" and then gets back in his car and heads off to Jasper.
D2X, 17-35mm/2.8, f/16 @ 1/10". I overlapped a 3-stop soft grad from the top and a 2-stop soft grad from the bottom so that they merged near the bright spot on the horizon to keep it from getting too hot.
Posted by Todd Caudle on August 21, 2007 at 9:23 PM
Um, wow. Utterly and fantasmagorically beautiful.
Posted by Scott Fricke on August 21, 2007 at 9:35 PM
What Todd said! I've really enjoyed seeing your posts from that trip, all great images.
Ahhh the mighty Athabasca! Too bad you had such a terrible trip up north - nothing worth shooting up there at all. This is another sweet shot Rick - makes me really want to get back up there. Great comp and nice job with the GND's as well!
Rick- in a past life I spent a summer in the Jasper free camp right on the shore of the Athabasca. learned a lot about Canadian beer and Mounties. Thanks for bringing it back to me. Great shot!
Posted by Joshua Hardin on August 22, 2007 at 11:28 AM
Incredible light Rick. Great comp to emphasize the compelling clouds. Interesting how some people think that if there isn't an animal around something isn't worth taking a picture of. I have had similar experiences, expecially in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Great shot..better story! Thanks Rick. Your images and Darren's have been a source of inspiration for me. So much so that I'm heading up there in 3 weeks. Add some changing colors, some bugling elk....life is good!
Posted by Doug Andrews on August 23, 2007 at 2:38 PM
Rick this is extra good.
Posted by Laurent Baig on August 23, 2007 at 4:08 PM
Dang, that's gorgeous!
Posted by Jack Brauer on August 23, 2007 at 9:25 PM
wow... awesome sunset. That's a hell of a river too. Great idea about the overlapping grads... I'll have to try that out sometime!
Posted by Nat Coalson on August 23, 2007 at 10:33 PM
I think the lines in this shot are really great and the overall composition is really well balanced. The eye "travels comfortably" throughout the frame. And beautiful color! Nice job post-processing, too...
Discussion
17 repliesBest (or weirdest) part of this evening though was a Brit who was driving across the bridge just as this scene was coming together. He stops the car on the bridge, hops out, walks over, sits over my shoulder - literally breathing on my neck from about 6" away - and, after I take a shot, says "Mind if I ask what you're looking at? Is there an animal down there on the banks?" I paused...for a while...answered no, and explained that I was just shooting the sunset. He says "oh...it is quite nice" and then gets back in his car and heads off to Jasper.
D2X, 17-35mm/2.8, f/16 @ 1/10". I overlapped a 3-stop soft grad from the top and a 2-stop soft grad from the bottom so that they merged near the bright spot on the horizon to keep it from getting too hot.
John
That's one stellar shot. Makes me want to go to Canada.