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Nov, 2014Views
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December 17, 2014
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
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BiggszSR
January 01, 2015
This is just beautiful. I might have imagined a place like this is one of my fantasies but to see it is for real in this photo is stunning.
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EtienneV
February 24, 2020
Yes absolutely. Long expure makes clouds fluffy. Plus a little of color retouching.
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo on the heights of Crans-Montana ski resort in the Swiss Alps. The location is only accessible by hike-skiing after the closure of the lifts. Hike-skiing is quite popular in Switzerland. By the help of "skins" stuck on the ski soles and special bindings as well, it is possible to climb slopes. While at the top, the equipment is set-up back to downhill position and then you can enjoy the fun of a true alpine ski. Passionates are practicing this activity even after working hours until late evening. In the heart of winter it is freezing cold out there. People like breaking in the warm heat of the mountain hut before gliding down to human life...Time
It is a true night picture taken around 9pm in the evening. Therefore the light as nothing to do with sun light. Nevertheless it is still natural coming from a shining moon... except for the light coming out of the hut windows and from villages down in the valley.Lighting
My experience with moonlit landscaping is that it works well on full moon days, not more than one day before or after. Other days, the brightness of the light is not sufficient. To my view one key success factor is having bright areas in the scene to reflect and diffuse this type of light which is rather harsh unmodified. This is achieved here by the help of the snow and the clouds. The moon shine comes from the upper left side and lit both foreground and background of the scenery. Of course it is an long exposure because it is still night. This helps to gets the car tail lights striking in the far and also the smoke from the chimney to gets white.Equipment
I used my trustworthy DSLR 20 MPx with a easy-go-to zoom lens 24 to 105 mm mounted on a tripod. No artificial light was used... only the great moon.Inspiration
Well, this photo is the result of patience, preparation and also luck. The scenery is a gift of the nature and without a doubt breathtaking and inspiring. What does take breath is probably the contrast between the depth of the main valley and the hight of the mountain range ! I wanted to render this dimension like in the books i.e. with an immediate foreground which is achieved by the hut. The hut and the far city down in the valley evoke the contrast between the quietness of mountain environment and the activity of urban life. The night time contributes to stress these elements of the composition thanks to internal lighting.Editing
Yes indeed. I post-processed the raw file from the camera mainly to open up the shadows and retouched slightly the colours to gets more dimension by contrast warm/cold between foreground and background. I removed some disturbing elements like poles... and did a bit of dodge and burning. I wish I had boosted up a bit the exposure because this version is too low key.In my camera bag
Usually when outdoors, I bring with me my camera, a few lenses and the tripod when it becomes dark. I try to keep more and more often a 50 mm lens on the camera. I my back pack, I like to have, a wide angle zoom lens, a 100mm macro lens, and a speed light when my back allows. I use a light photo backpack made especially for outdoor activities.Feedback
I recommend to get to the place at day time to recognise the stand point from which shooting the picture. For full moonlit scenes, it is helpful to check out calendars to pick up the right night. Where this picture is taken, there is snow only 4 months a year. That leaves about 4 days in the year to shoot it. Out of the 4's, may be just one would do it because the moon shall be the right location, just enough clouds to help the composition, clear weather... So try, try relentlessly that would be my advice. It took me 2 years to gets this one. Good luck and happy night pictures packed with fun. Many thanks to Viewbug community that gives me the opportunity to share my passion.
