DSC_0369tiff
Jul, 2015Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Standing At The Edge Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Love it
Outstanding Creativity
All Star
Superior Skill
Magnificent Capture
Genius
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Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 2Top 10 rank week 1
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
At trail crest on the Mount Whitney trail at about 13.5 thousand feet elevationTime
Our goal was to do the entire 22 miles in one day (about 7000 ft elevation gain) We started at 3 in the morning down at whitney portal and this pict was taken some 6 hours later close to 9:30 AM. It was hard to take a ton of picts because of how difficult the entire hike was.Lighting
Really got lucky with the lighting for this pic cause the day before and the day after there was horrible hail storms and people had to turn back. I've done this trail maybe 10 times before and always stop off here for "the picture" but this year the clouds and lighting were really amazing.Equipment
Nikon D810 and 35mm prime propped on a boulder for stability.Inspiration
I stop here each year just because of the cliff that sticks out just begging to have somebody standing on it. Plus after hiking for 6+ hours this spot makes for an amazing place to rest and recuperate before attacking the final two hours to the top of Mt Whitney.Editing
Just your basic pulling out of the shadows in camera raw before just minor adjustments for tone and color in PhotoShopIn my camera bag
Nikon D810 and 35mm, 50mm and 85mm Nikon primes.....trying to save up money to buy full frame Nikon zooms so for now my legs have to be my zoom!Feedback
Be prepared for a really tough hike to get up Mt. Whitney and get your lottery request in early in order to get a spot in the summer. Almost any trip into the sierra nevada will net you similar pics especially along the Tioga Pass. There are even spots better than this that you can drive up to in Yosemite on glacier point road. It's all about catching the proper lighting and getting lucky with the clouds adding some drama. Planning ahead is always key, if possible, so that you maximize your time at a given spot during favorable lighting, but sometimes on a vacation you can't really plan the weather. In my case with this pic about 50% was pure luck and the other 50% was just being able to carry the extra 5lbs of camera gear for 14hrs. The picture was there all I did was push the button!
