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Mer de Glace at Chamonix

Mer de Glace at Chamonix
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cameraOLYMPUS XZ-1

settings Aperture f/6.3 ISO 100 Shutter 1/250 Focal Length 1184/100 

upload_dateJan, 2016

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3345

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Awards

People's Choice in Black and White World Photo Challenge
People's Choice in Leading Lines Black & White Photo Challenge
People's Choice in B&W nature Photo Challenge
Featured
Member Selection Award
Contest Finalist in Black And White Mountains Photo Contest
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Peer Award
Sandypartlow4 scouthunt2778 Skykink TonyGuzmanG MIsabel jw719 Legammare +216
Superb Composition
vsoare2001 Johnsalterego Cameraupoint ClaritaBethCanlasMiller DocTom Joviaal 831John +81
Absolute Masterpiece
robinh_7535 Trei kurtsnyder rsung Mark_Davis mkofo dsjr051 +52
Top Choice
sophiedv winnerslens31 keithhempfleng Netty thatunicorngal mhaeri kristenfelzscofield +42
Magnificent Capture
jleosadauskas JePePhoto Hellrach edandaniphone NatureCoast MickAlicic Steve-n-Ning +9
Outstanding Creativity
GELeka michaelreiss syedasjadalijafri dubrome kbradfield sjphotocomau Bensphotographykiwi +4
All Star
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Superior Skill
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Love it
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Genius
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Stacy_the_Wanderer116

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Impressed
AlienMoonBaby gman176 KristinaOers huwddu SURREALIMAGE Alla_Akantova FergalBrady +9

Top Ranks

Monochrome Love Photo ContestTop 20 rank
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S Curves Compositions Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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S Curves Compositions Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Thankful Photo Contest 2021Top 30 rank
Creative Landscapes Photo Contest vol10Top 20 rank
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Monochrome Rocks Photo ContestTop 30 rank
My Best Capture Photo Contest vol2Top 20 rank
My Best Capture Photo Contest vol2Top 20 rank week 1
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The ViewBug ProjectTop 30 rank
Leading Lines Photo Contest vol1Top 30 rank
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Creative Landscapes Photo Contest vol6Top 30 rank week 1
Earth Day Every Day Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Wild Cliffs Photo ContestTop 20 rank
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Wild Cliffs Photo ContestTop 20 rank week 1
The Wonders of the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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A World In Black And White Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Black And White Landscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank
Black And White Landscapes Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Black And White Mountain Peaks Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Landscapes In Black And White Photo ContestTop 10 rank week 1
Stunning Landscapes Photo Contest by NPLTop 10 rank
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Unique Landscapes Photo ContestTop 20 rank
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Black And White Mountains Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Categories

22 Comments | Report
RuwanFonseka PRO
 
RuwanFonseka February 10, 2016
Well composed, lit and editing.
NatureLoverJJWal PRO+
 
NatureLoverJJWal February 20, 2016
Excellent capture and conversion!
carolcardillo PRO+
 
carolcardillo May 07, 2016
Gorgeous work! Congrats on being a Finalist! Yay, Dave!
UnkleFrank
 
UnkleFrank May 07, 2016
What a view!!! Congratulations on a well deserved award, David. My compliments.
FrankSomma
 
FrankSomma May 07, 2016
Awesomeness David. Great POV and the tones, fantastic. Congrats and good luck!!!
onyanita PRO+
 
onyanita May 10, 2016
yay....Contest Finalist....congrats!!! xoxoxo
NatureLoverJJWal PRO+
 
NatureLoverJJWal May 11, 2016
I love the curve of the road and I am impressed with the perspective. Congratulations on your award!
cmorisset PRO+
 
cmorisset May 11, 2016
Congrats David for your beautifully captured glacier. The B & W makes the textures come through. Perfect composition. Bravo!
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 May 24, 2016
Beautiful work, voted The battle of Advanced
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 December 04, 2016
Congrats !
estercastillo08
 
estercastillo08 December 04, 2016
Voted Stunning Landscapes
NatureLoverJJWal PRO+
 
NatureLoverJJWal February 03, 2017
Congratulations on your Member Selection Award!
Lwb1331
 
Lwb1331 February 13, 2017
Amazing
RuwanFonseka PRO
 
RuwanFonseka July 08, 2017
Voted
Arzhtatiana
 
Arzhtatiana February 03, 2019
Nice work in B & W, David! Congratulations!
gman176
 
gman176 December 27, 2019
Wonderful image! Congratulations of the awards. They're well-deserved.
texaaronpueschel Platinum
 
texaaronpueschel July 09, 2020
The composition in mono on this is extraordinary.
RuwanFonseka PRO
 
RuwanFonseka October 11, 2021
Voted. Win again.
Joviaal PRO
 
Joviaal December 02, 2021
Congrats on your win David. :-)
NatureCoast Ultimate
 
NatureCoast November 25, 2022
Congratulations! Beautiful photo!
vsoare2001
 
vsoare2001 November 25, 2022
Congratulations Dave on win the challenge!
ClaritaBethCanlasMiller PRO+
 
ClaritaBethCanlasMiller Mar 27
beautiful

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#black and white #curve #mountains #snow #ice #chamonix #Mer de Glace #fave #art #winner one
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Behind The Lens

Location
I took this photo of the Mer de Glace which is a valley glacier located on the northern slopes of the Mont Blanc massif, in the French Alps above the Town of Chamonix. It is a massive glacier with tributary glaciers feeding it from the Valle Blanche and Les Grandes Jorasses, (a mountain massif seen at the rear in the photo) The glacier is suffering from climate change issues and has reduced in depth over the years, the ice is largely covered by stone and rock which creates the striated look. It is amazing to see and photograph the mountains and this particular glacier which is iconic.
Time
18th July 2015 at 12.09pm … rain was threatening and the clouds were dark. Dramatic conditions.
Lighting
The weather was very cloudy over the surrounding peaks but there was good visibility and a little brightness. This was good because there was snow and ice in the image as well as dark ridges and buttresses of rock.
Equipment
I used an Olympus XZ-1 compact zoom camera with an electronic viewfinder .. this camera allows various modes of shooting as well as manual operation .. I still have the camera and its ease of use and good results makes it a favourite where a small camera is required. It has a bright i.Zuiko zoom lens which is f/1.8 at the 28mm equivalent end and f/2.5 at the 112mm setting. Otherwise no other equipment was used.. My manual settings for the image were … ISO 100 … 1/250sec … FL 11.8mm (55mm equivalent) … f/6.3 I always take my photos in RAW and process them at home with Photoshop …
Inspiration
I love Chamonix area, the mountains, valleys and town are beautiful. The Mer de Glace is particularly beautiful because of its S shape leading into the valleys behind. A perfect leading line for the eye with an amazing backdrop. The V shapes in the rock ridges lead the eye down to the far end of the S curve. The bushes in the foreground framed the point of view of the glacier well, so were included. The inspiration happened easily because I was in a favourite place and I just had to frame the view to my satisfaction and take the picture.
Editing
My file was perfect for developing as a black and white image. I had plenty of detail on the dark areas and the light areas were well controlled. I developed the RAW image in colour and then converted it to black and white and saved it as a TIFF file. I used dodging and burning to accentuate the ridges and concentrate attention on the S curve and V shapes which were originally a flat dark colour, I tapered the dark towards grey on the mountains at the rear to maintain accuracy of how mountains appear in those areas and conditions. It was necessary to separate the ridges which originally appeared to be one dark area. The resultant image was a true representation of what I perceived on the day (minus colour)… I love black and white images.
In my camera bag
I still have the Olympus XZ-1 in my arsenal but now use the Olympus Micro4/3 OMD EM1 mark1 and mark2 cameras which are weather resistant and amazing cameras with in-body Image Stabilisation and a variety of interchangeable Micro 4/3 lenses, one of these cameras with at least one suitable lens will be in one of my Think Tank camera bags together with a Black Rapid cross body strap for the camera and cleaning kit comprising a bulb blower, brush, soft microfibre cloth and a Zeiss lens wipe in case of a stubborn mark (which usually is not allowed to happen)
Feedback
There is only one way to capture an image like this, you have to be out there at the right time and place and weather should not put you off. Seek to frame the image with a subject in mind and not just a picture. In this case, I was wanting to capture the mountains in a way which I could develop to use those 'rules' which we all know and adapt to suit our own purposes one of which is a leading line in the image to draw the viewer into the image. Rules are meant for the guidance of wise people but not for strict observance. Use an aperture and ISO which will give you good depth of field commensurate with available light. Then just concentrate on keeping the camera still and squeeze the shutter button in a controlled manner to maximise sharpness.

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