Ice Chamber

I recently spent some time working on a project for myself in the Cascades of Northern California. This is a view of an unprotected ice cave in the National Forest near Mt. Shasta. This angle was a little difficult to pull off since the floor was ice and sloped. If you haven't been in an ice cave the temperature can change drastically 10 beyond the entrance. A first experience for me, I had to walk back between the 10 ft just to say wow to myself. The cave did go deeper but I was alone and didn't feel like getting stuck.

The color version
If you like either one or think the flare is just too overpowering let me know. Thanks

A most unusual find,Steve. This would make a nice cover on a
science fiction publication. It's kind of otherworldly. I prefer the
B&W version.

This is a strange, surreal scene. Cool. The background flare works well with it, as does the B&W treatment. I am finding the foreground a little too bright for my tastes. It somehow looks out of balance to me. Looking out to the bright entrance, I would expect a moody gloom inside. How did you light it?

Harley, most of the whole scene was one shot exposed for the highlights the backlit ice. All shadow detail is not there. The transparent ice was pretty reflective. To bring a little detail around the entrance I blended another exposure two stops darker. I bracketed 8 stops just to see what the results could of been but the overcast sky wasn't doing much and stole the drama from the blowout.

This reminds me of an old b&w SciFi flick like the Outer Limits. The aliens have landed and are having their crazy offspring in this cave. The light is from the mother ship to warm the pods before they hatch. The adult aliens cannot be seen because they are hanging upside down from the cave ceiling and are dark in color.