Denali
They call it the 30% club if you get to see the mountain. But seeing the *entire* mountain in all her splendor? A rare event indeed! ...
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They call it the 30% club if you get to see the mountain. But seeing the *entire* mountain in all her splendor? A rare event indeed!
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May, 2016Views
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Awards
Winner in Alaska the Beautiful in B&W Photo Challenge
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
All Star
Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at one of the main pull offs on the Denali National Park Rd, where the mountain first really comes into view after driving into the park on the way to the Eielson Visitor Center in Interior Alaska. It's more often than not covered over in clouds, so to see so much of the mountain so clear was really a treat.Time
We'd signed up for the one of the earlier shuttles to trek into the park, and stopped to take view of the mountain when we got to this point, which was fully mid morning by then (around 10 am).Lighting
The lighting was full sun in mid-morning, so there wasn't a whole lot of shadow. However, there was very little haze and so I was inspired to make this image black and white to full light and clear air to show as much detail of the mountain as possible.Equipment
On this trip I had my Nikon D800 and 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom lens. No tripod, just hand held with the lens hood, it was sunny enough the shutter speed didn't have to be very slow.Inspiration
I'm always struck in awe coming around that bending and looking at the mountain. Denali is so impressive, especially because it is so tall and yet the base of the mountain doesn't start at a very high elevation, meaning base to peak high is quite large. As you round that curve in the road it's like the mountain just comes out of nowhere, and you feel like if you could just get a little closer you could just reach out and touch it. The presence of the mountain is a force all of its own and I wanted to capture that essence of size and majesty.Editing
This had some white balance correction and some gradient filters applied to the sky, since I didn't have a polarizer on me at the time I took the image. Also a bit of shadows and contrast to really bring out the detail of the texture of the mountain against the landscape. I converted the color image into black and white using Silver Efex in Lightroom.In my camera bag
It depends on where I am going. When I am in the park I find that a wide angle landscape is often too wide because I find myself wanting to photograph lots of things that are far away. Even this full view of the mountain was at 140 mm focal length. So for going into Denali National Park, I prefer the 70-200 mm zoom, and for wildlife viewing I try to rent a longer zoom like the Sigma 150-500. I try to keep my gear pretty minimal going into a park, so I will max at around 2 lenses.I prefer to bring my tripod with me but it's not always possible logistically. I usually carry a couple filters (polarizer, 3-stop, 10-stop), and a clicker cabled release.Feedback
I think the key is to always be ready. I was on the shuttle bus going out to Eielson at the time this image was taken, and it was a brief stop just a couple minutes, so I didn't really have time to fully set up like I normally like. Being able to think logically and quickly to be efficient in time is important. This is also true for wildlife photos while traveling along the park road, where the subject may or may not sit still very long :)
