Caught a nice sunset last night on a little overnight backpack trip to Crater Lake which is backdropped by North Twilight Peak. Made it worth all the mud and downed trees I had to deal with to get there!
Posted by Dan Walters on June 29, 2009 at 10:10 PM
Very nice! The colors are very intense.
Posted by Bert Fukuda on June 29, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Pretty sweet. I agree, well worth the trek.
Posted by Guy Schmickle on June 29, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Will, yes I used a 3 stop GND. As a matter of fact, even 3 stops wasn't enough so I had to take a second shot with that GND exposed one stop darker. I used the darker image to paint in the blue on the right hand side of the sky as it was just too bright otherwise.
Wow that's some intense colour going on in the sky. The exposure is handled really nicely, just enough details in the dark peak and the reflection is balanced nicely. Cool place to overnight at!.
Posted by Chris Martin on June 29, 2009 at 10:51 PM
Nice reflection, and the flowers scattered to and fro add some nice highlights.
Seems just a hair too dark (esp. the pine trees and the peak in the far background), but that's a very minor nit and may just be a matter of personal taste.
I think that this image and just being there was well worth the travails.
Incredible sky and reflection! I also thought that the trees on the far side of the lake were a little dark and drew my attention away from the sky (dark matter came to mind ).
Great shot Guy.... very dramatic.... I think you can bring out more details from the shadows though.... regards, Rajeev.
Posted by Guy Schmickle on June 30, 2009 at 10:50 AM
While I wanted to keep this a bit on the dark side, I have to agree that opening up the shadows a bit on the mountain and, especially, the trees in front of it would help. Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.
This is great, Guy! Ive thought of visiting Crater Lake, but with so many places, ive had to prioritize; how strongly would you recommend it?
Posted by Guy Schmickle on June 30, 2009 at 10:55 PM
Stan, if you're in the San Juans during wildflower or fall color season, then I woudn't recommend it. I would highly recommend it at other times though. I chose to go at this time of year because its within approximately a two month window where the peak receives both sunset and sunrise light (the peak is somewhat backlit at sunset the rest of the year). More excellent photo opportunities are available if you start climbing North Twilight Peak's eastern flank to get views of the Needles Range. There'd be some awesome sunset possibilities there as well (due to time constraints I didn't get a chance to check that out).
The one fly in the ointment right now is that there's a big blow down area from a storm last winter about a mile from the lake. It's about a quarter to half mile wide swath of downed, mature pines which completely obliterate the trail. From that point on, one must navigate their own way through the mess and on to the lake. I didn't find it to be a good time with a backpack strapped on!
Discussion
14 repliesNice reflection, and the flowers scattered to and fro add some nice highlights.
Seems just a hair too dark (esp. the pine trees and the peak in the far background), but that's a very minor nit and may just be a matter of personal taste.
I think that this image and just being there was well worth the travails.
The one fly in the ointment right now is that there's a big blow down area from a storm last winter about a mile from the lake. It's about a quarter to half mile wide swath of downed, mature pines which completely obliterate the trail. From that point on, one must navigate their own way through the mess and on to the lake. I didn't find it to be a good time with a backpack strapped on!
This is gorgeous...nice job.