Dude! That is one crisp photo! Beautiful scene. The CPL yielded a gorgeous lake, but I'd be tempted to crop the darkest part of the sky, or try to even out that URC.
Posted by Kalin Wilson on August 5, 2008 at 10:53 AM
Gorgeous color. I agree about the URC.
How was the hike/climb up to there? Awesome that there is still snow up there. We almost headed up there Saturday for an overnighter but couldn't make it happen. Did you get any shots into the surrounding ridges?
really nice color, and a beautiful scene......maybe a little crop on the sky to hold the eye?
Posted by Mel Ladewig on August 5, 2008 at 11:35 AM
How was the hike/climb up to there? Awesome that there is still snow up there. We almost headed up there Saturday for an overnighter but couldn't make it happen. Did you get any shots into the surrounding ridges?
The hike was steep in several sections but the trail is excellent. It must be one that CFI has worked on, because there are very obvious improvements and remnants of past social trails that are fading. I think it took us 2 hours at a leisurely pace, but I think my lungs would have exploded if I tried to go at a non-leisurely pace.
Its very tight into the cliffs from the lake, and since the sun was coming over my shoulder, I didn't try to turn the other way and shoot into the ridge line of Niagra. The cliffs rise about 600-800 feet up out of the lake and we kept hearing rocks falling as we sat there. It was just deep shadow with a high chance of flare when we were up there.
The CPL was a tough choice since I knew it would screw up the sky, but I needed to control the light reflecting off the lake too.
Posted by Doug Andrews on August 5, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Love the color in the lake. Your effort has been rewarded.
Posted by Laurent Baig on August 5, 2008 at 2:31 PM
I agree with George on the crop, I was thinking the same thing before I saw his comment. Accentuates the strong zig-zag of the shoreline.
Ice lake to here? Do you work?
Posted by Mel Ladewig on August 5, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Ice lake to here? Do you work?
Only when I have to.
(Which would be Monday to Friday most weeks)
Posted by Todd Caudle on August 5, 2008 at 2:55 PM
This is a nice, strong shot. I love the blue-green water. I agree that the darkest parts of the sky have that "deep space" look more familiar to Shuttle astronauts than Earth-based viewers, so I'd either crop that out (this would look nice in a quasi-pano crop) or lighten that area.
Posted by Grant Collier on August 5, 2008 at 3:18 PM
This is a gorgeous scene and the clouds are really nice. To me, there's too much foreground that detracts from the much more interesting background. I'd like to see this with a more interesting foreground or if that doesn't exist, maybe with no foreground at all. And I agree that the sky looks a little dark. If you used a polarizer, I'd avoid using that in the majority of situations. But all in all, this is a nice shot.
Posted by Rajeev Thomas on August 5, 2008 at 3:25 PM
Mel... I searched online for a picture of Sloan lake when I heard of it a year ago. And could not find more one or two. Now this is a beautiful shot.... may be my standards are lower than others here but I like it how it.... I think the colors are very nice.... beautiful and complimentary colors!! regards, Rajeev.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on August 5, 2008 at 3:28 PM
Here are some alternate crops. As I mentioned, I used a polarizer to control reflections on the water. It was needed to bring out the color and I knew very well that I'd fight with the skies with this wide a shot. At 13000 feet (the altitude of this lake) the skies overhead do start to look a bit black to the naked eye even without a polarizer.
Addressing Grants point, the lake has a nasty black algae growing along its edge and I composed to keep that out of sight as much as possible. There just isn't much growing at this altitude, so there isn't much alternative for a foreground.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on August 5, 2008 at 3:29 PM
the more pano crop
Posted by Guy Schmickle on August 5, 2008 at 7:26 PM
Discussion
16 repliesCanon XT, 10-22, CPL
A gem indeed, beautiful color..
How was the hike/climb up to there? Awesome that there is still snow up there. We almost headed up there Saturday for an overnighter but couldn't make it happen. Did you get any shots into the surrounding ridges?
The hike was steep in several sections but the trail is excellent. It must be one that CFI has worked on, because there are very obvious improvements and remnants of past social trails that are fading. I think it took us 2 hours at a leisurely pace, but I think my lungs would have exploded if I tried to go at a non-leisurely pace.
Its very tight into the cliffs from the lake, and since the sun was coming over my shoulder, I didn't try to turn the other way and shoot into the ridge line of Niagra. The cliffs rise about 600-800 feet up out of the lake and we kept hearing rocks falling as we sat there. It was just deep shadow with a high chance of flare when we were up there.
The CPL was a tough choice since I knew it would screw up the sky, but I needed to control the light reflecting off the lake too.
Ice lake to here? Do you work?
Only when I have to.
(Which would be Monday to Friday most weeks)
Addressing Grants point, the lake has a nasty black algae growing along its edge and I composed to keep that out of sight as much as possible. There just isn't much growing at this altitude, so there isn't much alternative for a foreground.
John