Hagues Tundra

On Wednesday, inspired by Jody's recent post, I hiked up to an area known at "The Saddle" to shoot Hagues Peak at sunset. A cloud bank thwarted me and the sun was only lighting the mountains across the valley. After waiting and waiting, I eventually decided to give up my great composition and shoot what was happening across the valley. About 2 minutes after moving to my new location the sun briefly broke through on Hagues. I raced across the tundra and quickly composed the image above, which isn't quite what I had wanted but was the best I could do in the short time I had. Just another minute or two later and the light was gone for the day. I felt like (Brent) Murphy's law was in action, but I was happy to have at least a little light. As always, any input is always appreciated!

It appears soft at the bottom of the frame, Erik, but just another spectacular shot from you in yet another area of the park that I have never heard of or seen. Well done, again.

Beautiful composition and great use of the colors available. I really like how the foreground colors compliment the colors of the peak, it draws my eye right in to the peak where the subtle light from the sunrise grabs my attention. The wonderful blue sky helps to bring out those warm colors in the foreground and the peak as well. Definitely a fine reward for such an early morning hike.

You sure are getting better reds out of your 5D (or is it 5D Mk-II now?) than I can get. The shot's not on par with your best work, but is still classic Stensland. (that's a good thing...)

Thanks for the comments guys. I agree that this isn't one that will make the gallery wall or even a print anytime soon. I had a close look at the foreground and it is a little soft, not as bad as it looks in this jpg. This was shot at 17mm on my 17-40 and I'm really disapointed that things were moving so fast I didn't have time to do multiple images to stitch. As for the red, Todd it was very, very deep red. This was the last minute or two before sunset. I lightened it a little in LR and that seemed to make the red stand out more.

That's what I love here, the deep red. You can tell it's getting ready to disappear. Sure, not your best, but that red sure makes it a keeper! I bet this trail is fairly dry huh?

Actually Jesse, only about 1 mile was snow free. The next 8 up there were not all that pleasant. At the beginning it was wet and slushy and later it made a nice crust to break through. It made for a much longer trip than I planned.

Nice image Erik. "The next 8 were not all that pleasant" thats the winner! Don't you love it when you stand there for who knows how long and just as you move it all changes

Nice job Erik, looks like your effort paid off.

I've said this before about your images, Erik, but knowing what you went through to get this makes me appreciate it that much more. When I read Hague's Peak, my jaw dropped dropped. That's a good hike even in summer. This may not make the gallery wall, but it's still a good image and a keeper.

Nice shot. The reds really stand out. I like the comp as well.