Rainbow Mountain
After a quite difficult hike (for me), I was rewarded with this stunning view.
After a quite difficult hike (for me), I was rewarded with this stunning view.
Read less
Read less
Oct, 2017Views
106
Likes
Awards
Peer Choice Award
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
Outstanding Creativity
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
Top Ranks
Top 10 rank
Top 20 rank
Top 20 rank week 1Top 30 rank week 1
Top 10 rankCategories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
This is the mountain Vinicunca in Peru, about three and a half hours drive from Cusco. It is also called the Rainbow Mountain, I think the picture speaks for itself :) I booked a two days trek to get there. It was probably one of the most physically demanding things I've ever done as I usually don't do any sport but it was definitely worth it.Time
I think it was around 9AM. We left very early that day (5 - 5:30AM if my memory is correct) to climb all the way there.Lighting
Well, we were very lucky with it! I've seen people on the net complaining that it was foggy and rainy when they got there and they couldn't see anything but when we did, the sky was clear and the sun was shining (not too much as it was still the morning) which allowed the mountain to display all those beautiful colors.Equipment
I have a Canon 6D and the lens was my Canon 16-35 f/2.8L. I didn't use a tripod for this one nor a filter.Inspiration
While preparing my trip to Peru, my god-daughter, who was accompanying me there, talked to me about that mountain. I did a bit of research on Google and saw the pictures. I immediately thought: "OK, that's beautiful, I want to go there and take that picture.". I didn't know if I would have the opportunity to go back there so I knew I had to do it, even though I knew the two days trek would not be easy for me.Editing
Yes because the raw picture looked really bland. Using Lightroom, I set the color temperature to 5000 to make it a bit warmer then I upped the contrast (+44), shadows (+57), whites (+64) and the clarity (+35). I dialed down the highlights (-37) and the blacks (-35). Everything looked more vivid that way. But the sky was too blue, it wasn't natural anymore so I set the blue saturation down a bit (-18). I removed the chromatic aberration but I didn't use any profile correction. The picture is taken at 35 mm so the deformation is minimal and I wanted to keep the vignetting as it is. All I needed left to do was to sharpen it a bit and I was done.In my camera bag
I usually have my two favourite lenses: the 16-35 that I used here and a 70-300 f/4-5.6L that I use for wildlife or whenever I need to zoom a lot. With those two, I can shoot almost everything I want.Feedback
When you go to a foreign country, make some research to see what are the beautiful places over there. Google Image is a great way to do it. And when you see something that you love, go there. Even if it is not initially planned (this mountain was not part of the trip, I asked the travel agency to put it in), even if you know it will not be easy to get there (damn it was hard!), do it otherwise you will regret it. And on the way, you will also see many other beautiful things ( I too, many pictures on my way up there), so that's even more reasons to do it.
