Indian Peaks (Blended)
Just in the right place at the right time.
Like what you see? Check out my website quillerarcphotography.com
Just in the right place at the right time.
Like what you see? Check out my website quillerarcphotography.com
Read less
Like what you see? Check out my website quillerarcphotography.com
Read less
Mar, 2015Views
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Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 22
Creative Winter Award
Curator's Selection
Legendary Award
Great Shot
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
Lake Brainard in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, just south of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.Time
I'll be honest this was a luck shot. I had spent the whole day hiking up to Pawnee Pass and back in 5 feet of snow. By the time I'd made it back to the truck, it was starting to get late. Normally I would have stayed out later but storms were movin' in and I figured the clouds were there to stay. It wasn't until I'd pulled out the stove and started dinner, the wind picked up and I figured I might have a lucky break. Grabbed my gear and ran down to the lake, just in time to get this.Lighting
The cloud cover only lifted for bout 10 minutes.Equipment
Canon 600D with an EF-S 18-55 mm zoom lens and Manfrotto tripod.Inspiration
Late May of 2014, I left Texas on a month and half trip to find myself. It's not that I wasn't used to travelling; I'd been outa state tons of times, either with my family or with scouting. Those of you who've experienced this know what I'm gettin at. That knot you get in your stomach when you're leaving someplace amazing, you tell yourself you'll be back someday just to ease your mind. I had been waiting 8 years for that return visit: improving and pushing my skills as to not miss a single opportunity on this trip and all the while planning and saving. I thought would help, or at least that's what I told myself. So not even a week into this trip, and I'm more alive than I've ever felt. Never stayin anywhere for more than a few days, I must have trekked over 4000 miles around New Mexico and Colorado. Didn't want much, just a stretch of open road, good light, and someplace to park for the night. I've seen places many people haven't heard of and experienced things most don't know. If anything this trek solidified this passion to keep movin, to keep exploring. And as I sit here completing these photos, revisiting these memories, I tell myself I'll go back someday. ...Someday soonEditing
I think this was the first image I use my "Blended" technique on. I'll usually start by generating luminosity masks and using those to get the exposure perfect. From there I use s-curves and various filters in conjunction with the luminosity masks to bring out detail, contrast and adjust the look of the image. Make sure you have these kinds of adjustments done before you run noise reduction software. From here there's several things I might do depending on the image. With Indian Peaks burned and dodged parts of the falls to the right and then on a neutral layer painted more vibrancy into the clouds and reflection. As a final for all my images, I'll work in a slight vignetting. If I remember correctly, the uncompressed Indian Peaks file is bout 3GB. Using this workflow require lots of space and time (2 an a half to 3 hours is the average) but it's definitely worth it.In my camera bag
I don't have much but make do with what I got. A Canon 600D and 400D as well as a EF-S 18-55mm and a EF-S 55-250mm II. Picked up a Rokinon 8mm fisheye and a Nodal Ninja 4 tripod head specifically for this trip. Along with various CPL and ND filters, I've got a Manfrotto 290 with an 804RC2 head.Feedback
Don't let yourself get bogged down by old equipment. In this day and age we're constantly getting bombarded by the Latest and Greatest, but new equipment can actually be a detriment to new photographers. There are many techniques, tricks and software that will allow you to unlock the limitations of your equipment and get just as good results. The skills and experience you earn doin this will be invaluable later on, when you're able to push new equipment that much farther past their limits. Skill will always win out against the gear, don't forget it.
