A cold morning with a beautiful sunrise at 2500 meters above sea level, it doesn't get much better than this ...
A cold morning with a beautiful sunrise at 2500 meters above sea level, it doesn't get much better than this ...
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Natural Landscapes Photo Contest
Runner Up in Snowcaps Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Snowcaps Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Winter Wonderland Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 16
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
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Superior Skill
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
In Puez-Geisler Nature Park, Dolomites, Northern Italy, on the Seceda facing the Odle Mountains.Time
It's shot just before sunrise during the first light of the dayLighting
The main tone in the photo is white. It's important to know, that whites naturally reflect more light than darker tones or even blacks do. This results in a natural overexposure using automatic programs as Aperture priority and possibly the loss of details in the white areas. Underexposing images of white subjects result in a balanced photograph. I use the Manual mode of my camera to find the perfect exposure with full control of shutter (which tends to be one to two stops faster in snow or white sand) and aperture.Equipment
For this shot, I used my newest lens, a Tamron 11-16mm f2,8 on my Canon 70D. I really like the sharpness of this lens. It comes with the prize of a flare sensitivity, but in my opinion, it's worth it. Furthermore, I used my Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 Carbon tripod for total steadiness and a shutter release cable.Inspiration
Since I'm interested in photography, I always dreamed of visiting The Dolomites in Northern Italy. I recently saw some great images and I really wanted to go there as soon as possible. So I packed my gear and stayed there for 8 days at the next opportunity. I think this is what photography is really about: Getting up and getting out to quote the inspiring Thomas Heaton (check out his Youtube channel, his videos are really inspiring)Editing
I use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop for my processing workflow. For this image, I reduced the highlights to get more detail and color in the sky and raised the shadows for more detail in the dark areas. I increased the contrast with negative clarity to add a nice crisp without overdoing it. I raised the blacks for even more contrast. For sharpening, I used the high pass filter, using Photoshop.In my camera bag
I use a Canon 70D with two Canon lenses (18-135mmf3,5; 50mm f1,8) and a Tamron 11-16mm f2,8 lens which is the best ASP-C lens I owned so far. My tripod is a Manfrotto MT055CXPRO3 Carbon tripod with magnesium ball head. It is really sturdy and was a great investment. I didn't realize how important it is to have a good tripod until I used this one. It has really improved the sharpness of my images. I use a third party cable release to release the shutter without touching my camera. My filter set contain a HAIDA Filter holder, a HAIDA 80mm polarizer, a HAIDA 6 stop ND Filter and a NISI graduated ND FilterFeedback
As I mentioned earlier, it's important to adapt to the snowy conditions by slightly underexposing the image. But the most important advice for this shot lies in the fact, that it really took an effort to get to the location. My girlfriend and I slept in the car in the parking lot at 1725 meters and woke up at 3.30 a.m. to hike up to the Seceda on 2,500 meters for shooting the sunrise at 6:30 a.m. There is a cable car driving up the mountain but it was closed due to the season and starts way too late to reach the peak at sunrise. So you either have to sleep up there or walk up and we chose the latter due to the minus 10 -15 degrees during the night at the peak. It was really freezing cold and the steep sections were quite challenging with a backpack each with additional clothes and the gear. On top, we changed clothes at -5 degrees to be warm and as comfy as possible, set up and waited for the light. The best in this image is the story that took me there to shoot it!