Smoke Trails

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Smoke Trails
Smoke Trails1440×960 421 KB

This is a final image from my first visit to Mount Shuksan back in October. This is a composite, because the last light on the mountain was a little ahead of the best light in the sky. @Steve_Kennedy’s image is a truer representation of the scene, but I was greedy. (The mountain and shore were taken at 6:37 p.m., and the sky at 6:42 p.m. For comparison my prior image, taken from the same spot, was taken at 6:01 p.m.)

Every once in a while I see a sunset with amazing color in the east, and this was one of those evenings. The west never lit up, but thankfully for us (since Mount Shuksan is to the east of this spot) this was one of those “eastern sunsets.”

As Steve mentioned in one of his early posts from this particular afternoon, we were bedeviled by ducks destroying the reflection. One immature Pied-billed Grebe in particular was devastatingly effective. I was really tempted to find some rocks to throw to drive it away, but resisted and had to be satisfied with name calling and viscous scowls. Magically though, there were brief moments the bird was quiet or far enough away that we were able to capture the key light; I had to take all my horrible invectives back and apologize as we packed up in the dark to head back to camp.

I’m headed out today to go backpacking on Mt. St. Helens; I’ll catch back up when I return next week.

Specific Feedback Requested

I don’t have specific questions, but any suggestions for improvement would be very appreciated.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: Yes
FUJIFILM X-T30
FUJIFILM XF 10-24mm F4 at 19.2 mm (29 mm equivalent)
1/125 and 1/500 sec. at f/4.0 and ISO 800 (four images blended for dynamic range so the shadows have less noise)

2 Likes
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This looks beautifully peaceful and serene. The blend looks realistic.

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This is a very beautiful scene.
Love the light and color.
The tree on the left side touching the frame bothers me a lillte.

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4

It’s a beauty, well worth waiting for, John. There’s so much going on in the sky that show again in the reflection.

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5

This really wonderful John, the blend and processing look great, the luminosity is nicely balanced between sky and reflection. This must have been pretty spectacular to have experienced in person. The clouds must not have been moving much if these brackets were taken 5 minutes apart, they look nicely aligned.

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6

The blend has been skillfully done. I enjoyed your description of the photo shoot as much as the image itself. Well written. And hilarious. NPN could definitely use some humor.

PS. I thought your 2nd image, the b&w version, was the best of the 3. Some of it had to do with the amount of information you pulled out of the far bank.

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This is a beautiful image, John. The colorful sky and those reflections make the photo feel very calm. The exposure blend was executed perfectly, it looks very realistic.

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8

The Photo and your description is photography at its best by us amateur hobbyists… Superbly executed for just the fun and enjoyment of being there.,and showing it to a few people later that would care about it and appreciate it. What else is there…

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9

I don’t think I 've heard it put better!