The Icy summit
Patagonian hiking at its best
Patagonian hiking at its best
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Jan, 2016Views
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Awards
Contest Finalist in Black And White Mountain Peaks Photo Contest
Member Selection Award
Featured
Contest Finalist in Black And White Mountains Photo Contest
Peer Award
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Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Superior Skill
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Top 10 rank
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This is a photo of Mount Fitzroy in the Patagonian Andes. We had a day's hiking with a guide out of El Chalton. After a gentle climb up the mountain through pine forests, we had a steep 1 hour climb towards Mount Fitzroy. Suddenly, the ground flattened out and before us was a cobalt blue glacial lake and towering above us Mount Fitzroy. A wonderful sight.Time
We arrived at the glacial lake at around 11.30 am. It was December - early summer in Patagonia. The light was very sharp and clear, no haze, and bright sunshime from a deep blue sky.Lighting
With the air so clear and the light sharp and bright, I opted for maximum aperture.Equipment
The shot was taken with a handheld Nikon D5000 with a Tamron zoom lens.Inspiration
The temptation was to photograph in colour as the blues of the lake and sky contrasted beautifully with the white clouds around Fitzroy's peak, the snow and ice around the lake and the bare stone of the exposed peaks, but the stark beauty of the peaks standing proud above the snow and the clarity of the light persuaded me to take out the zoom lens and to forget about the lake. The interest lay in the detail of the bare rock rising from the snow field, and the clarity of the light against the blue sky. Editing to monochrome accentuated these aspects and created a photo that did justice to what I was seeing.Editing
The photo was initially taken in colour, so editing to monochrome enabled me to adapt the contrast to the point where the peaks appear three dimensional, which is how it appeared through the naked eye.In my camera bag
Nikon camera, two lenses :- 30 -120 and zoom 90-310, tripod, and UV filter, spare battery and spare memory card.Feedback
Imagine how each shot of a dramatic landscape would look in monochrome, and keep it simple. Too much detail can be uninteresting. The interest lies in distinctive and contrasting shapes, texture and light.
