My parents had never been to Mt. Rainier, so in September we went and spent a night at the Paradise Lodge. The mountain was fogged in the day we arrived, and I was worried they wouldn't see it. (Fortunately it was clear the next day .) The mountain began to peak through a little at dusk, and I took this photo well after the sun had set.
It was very dark to my eye at the time, and the camera read the scene very blue; I've warmed it some. I should have used a GND, unfortunately at full-size there is a lot of noise in the shadows.
Nikon D80
Nikon 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 at 14 mm
6.0 sec at f/8.0 and ISO 800
This is very different John, almost a bit eerie looking with the misty blue cast. I'm surprised with the sun having set and even with the exposure that you were able to capture this much detail and contrast.
Posted by James Walley on March 8, 2009 at 7:29 AM
I second Craig's opinion -- this is the first time in awhile where I've seen an image of Rainier that shows me something new about "our mountain." Very impressive!
Posted by Marc Dilley on March 8, 2009 at 11:35 AM
I love this, John. And to think that you toned down the blues - the foliage is still quite blue/green to my eye. I think this is really a unique vision of Rainier. You mention some technical problems; I hope you can deal with the noise and make this print-worthy. My only nit: Too much sky above the mountain. I would remove about 1/3.
Posted by Cliff Dodge on March 8, 2009 at 12:49 PM
Not much to add for me from what everyone else said. I like the idea with the sky crop. :)
I've come back to this several times, and it's growing on me. At first, the color balance bothered me a little. The more my eye acclimates to it though, the more I'm coming to appreciate the mood you've captured. Similar atmospherics with a warmer presentation feels inviting, optimistic. This feels primordial and little brooding. Along the line of what James said, it lends some complexity to the mountain's character. Very interesting.
Could benefit from some sharpening, though that could be tricky with all the noise. If you've never tried Noise Ninja, this might be a good time to give it a whirl. You can download a free trial.
Posted by David Schoen on March 8, 2009 at 2:39 PM
the blue tones give me a feeling of fog and I think this works pretty well. If you warmed it up, you might not convey ther same mood
It seems that when you shoot outdoors with low light, and have the camera white balance set to auto, the images come out blue. If you shoot in raw, try adjusting the white balance with your raw processing software. I do like the mood and composition.
A cropping suggestion. On my screen your image is approximately 7.75" tall. Try taking off 1" on the top and 1.25" on the bottom. I think you will find that the overall luminosity of the image increases and the eye can focus in more closely on your subject matter. I find the darkness at the bottom and the featureless gray at the top distracting.
Discussion
9 repliesIt was very dark to my eye at the time, and the camera read the scene very blue; I've warmed it some. I should have used a GND, unfortunately at full-size there is a lot of noise in the shadows.
Nikon D80
Nikon 12.0-24.0 mm f/4.0 at 14 mm
6.0 sec at f/8.0 and ISO 800
Could benefit from some sharpening, though that could be tricky with all the noise. If you've never tried Noise Ninja, this might be a good time to give it a whirl. You can download a free trial.
A cropping suggestion. On my screen your image is approximately 7.75" tall. Try taking off 1" on the top and 1.25" on the bottom. I think you will find that the overall luminosity of the image increases and the eye can focus in more closely on your subject matter. I find the darkness at the bottom and the featureless gray at the top distracting.
Phil