And I Can See For Miles
Outside of the Chenek campsite in the fabulous Simien Mountains, Ethiopia.
Aug, 2015Views
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Legendary Award
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Staff Winter Selection 2015
Contest Finalist in Landscapes 101 Photo Contest
People's Choice in Meditation Places Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Meditation Places Photo Contest
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Absolute Masterpiece
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Magnificent Capture
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nina050
October 21, 2015
Sorry...meant to give you a Masterpiece on this....VB had other ideas with the new voting system! Sorry! :-(
JohnWaldronImages
November 05, 2015
Incredible tones, very emotional. I wish I could have seen this stunning view in real life!
PRO+
PRO+
adavies
July 02, 2017
Fantastic! Beautifully captured! Great light! If you haven't done so already, please consider joining my Empty Seats challenge:)
https:// viewbug.com/challenge/empty-seats-photo-challenge-by-adavies#sthash.7qNKcZ9u.dpuf
https:// viewbug.com/challenge/empty-seats-photo-challenge-by-adavies#sthash.7qNKcZ9u.dpuf
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo near our camp for the night at the Chenek camp site in the Simien Mountains National Park, in the central highlands of Ethiopia in East Africa. To get here I took a three day hike with a guide and others that eventually led to this part of the mountain range. With a little exploration of the site I eventually found this incredible vantage point and possibly the most peaceful park bench in the world.Time
This photo was taken at sunset in the middle of December, right before the Sun began to set past the horizon.Lighting
This was an image that definitely required some softer light to get right. Normally during the day the harsh light directly from above obscures most of the horizon and creates a muddy, overexposed haze that enveloped much of the gorgeous mountainous and canyon-laden scenery. It wasn't until the golden hour when the whole landscape was cast in a beautiful glow that really created a strong atmosphere and left my jaw wide open! As always with landscape photography it was about patience, being in the right place and a lot of chance.Equipment
For this photo I used a manual lens, the Samyang 14mm ultrawide on my Sony A7, mounted on my Sirui travel tripod and taken with a remote camera trigger. Since this lens has a really bulbous front element, I wasn't able to use any filters.Inspiration
The inspiration began maybe a dozen years ago as I remember seeing a photo of the region on the internet and later multiple nature documentaries on the Simien Mountains. These always produced awe and wonder and it was high up on my bucket list to visit such a unique country like Ethiopia. Then a year before I left I encountered a photo taken from the same spot that completely blew me away for the scale and tranquility it displayed. It was an epic panoramic shot that I knew I had to see in person myself. What was most striking to me was that concrete bench, seemingly in the middle of nowhere and yet right in the middle of it all! It was the lookout to end all lookouts, where one could just sit down and really take your surroundings and the moment right in. I had to know more and I had to get to that place myself. With a little research and follow up, I was able to find the exact camp site in the park, the Chenek camp site and I organized a tour that made sure I would stay there.Editing
I did a lot of post-processing after I took the photo with a variety of program, Photoshop, Lightroom, and Nik Efex. First I corrected much of the distortion that's common to the Samyang lens. The photo had a strong magenta cast to it and changed the white balance to be warmer. With the fantastic dehaze feature, I was able to recover a significant amount of detail near the horizon, including saturation that really made the image pop. As usual, I modified the contrast, locally and globally and dodged and burned where appropriate. I then sharpened the image.In my camera bag
At the time my travel gear included the Sony A7, three primes: for anything wide (I love ultrawide) the Samyang 14mm, the Zeiss FE 55mm and by far my most used lens while in Ethiopia was the fantastic Zeiss FE 35mm. The Zeiss 35mm with the A7 proved a really potent combo, especially for its small, lightweight size. At times I wished I had something between 14mm and 35mm but there was no inexpensive alternative at the moment. I also carry my Sirui travel tripod, an intervalometer, various filters (ND, polarizer), lens cleaner, lens clothes, an air brush, extra batteries and storage, sensor cleaner (I changed lenses often), an OTG card reader, to be able to use my phone as an intermediary between my camera and another storage card to backup my photos for the day and I have since replaced my 14mm and Zeiss FE 35mm with the Zeiss FE 16-35mm instead.Feedback
Besides the obvious mantra of 'practice makes perfect.' Do you research before hand. You only have so much time in one place, it's better to be prepared and you'll more likely know the right spots to take a photo, when to do it and how to do it. Many decisions have to be made very fast and on the spot with limited light or other issues that might come up, if you're prepared ahead of time you'll know how to either anticipate them or get around them or deal with them as they come up.
