xhphotography

Serenity

Mountain view surrounded by purple wild flowers, emerald waters and a beautiful blue sky.

Mountain view surrounded by purple wild flowers, emerald waters and a beautiful blue sky.
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Canon EOS REBEL T4i

settings

Aperture f/5.6 ISO 100 Shutter 1/500 Focal Length 55/1

upload_date

Apr, 2015

Views

533

Likes

+46

Awards

Summer 2020

Superb Composition

Peer Award

Absolute Masterpiece

Top Choice

Magnificent Capture

All Star

Outstanding Creativity

Top Ranks

Top 20 rank

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken in Jasper National Park in Alberta right beside the Columbian Icefields.

Time

This was taken in July of 2014 at around 12:30 in the afternoon. While "high noon" is not considered to be the best time to photograph nature and landscapes the ideal surrounding elements such as cloud coverage can play in your favour.

Lighting

High noon sunlight is harsh for photographing landscapes but sometimes you have no choice but to shoot in the middle of the day such as when you are just passing through. If you are lucky enough to have clouds in the sky, have patience and wait for that moment when the sun ducks behind the clouds. It will help diffuse the light so you can still capture a great photograph.

Equipment

This image was shot with a Canon Rebel t4i at 1/500s, f/5.6, iso 100 on a 18-55mm lens at 55mm.

Inspiration

My inspiration for this photo came from the pure serenity of the scene. My family and i were on a vacation through the mountains and decided to stop at the Columbian Ice fields in Jasper. To the right of the parking lot at the bottom of the glaciers was an amazing blue sky with white fluffy clouds above the mountains and below those was beautiful emerald waters with a bank of vibrant purple wildflowers. I just had to capture that beauty to take home with me.

Editing

The lighting of the day really did most of the work but considering I shoot in raw the basic enhancement were needed in lightroom. I turned up the saturation just a smidgen, reduced a little noise and took out some shadows. Just a few tweeks were required to recapture the true beauty of the landscape.

In my camera bag

In my camera bag is always found my canon camera body, 18-55mm standard lens, 50mm f/1.8 lens and my 70-300 telephoto lens along with some tulip covers. Included is also a few different polarizing lenses, a cleaning cloth and extra lens caps because I tend to misplace those constantly.

Feedback

Timing is everything in a beautiful landscape photo. Too cloudy can look dreary and flat. Too sunny can cause horribly harsh shadows and highlights but if you are patient enough to wait for that perfect partly sunny / partly cloudy moment you can wind up with a beautifully lit landscape. Keeping composition in mind is always key in landscapes. Being click happy and winding up with 50 images that didn't work out is frustrating and discouraging. It is always best to aim, focus, and wait for that one amazing shot.

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xhphotography

xhphotography

Serenity

Mountain view surrounded by purple wild flowers, emerald waters and a beautiful blue sky.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow xhphotography

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