Wild Sky
This wild collection of clouds had formed above the 13,000-ft Truchas Peaks, which are just visible at the bottom of the image.The last few minutes of Sunset pr...
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This wild collection of clouds had formed above the 13,000-ft Truchas Peaks, which are just visible at the bottom of the image.The last few minutes of Sunset provided this spectacular illumination.
Details: Canon EOS 5D Mk II, Canon 17-35 mm lens at 35 mm, ISO 200, f-4, 1-160.
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Details: Canon EOS 5D Mk II, Canon 17-35 mm lens at 35 mm, ISO 200, f-4, 1-160.
Read less
Apr, 2018Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
We live in Northern New Mexico, at 8100 ft elevation, in the small Spanish Land Grant village of Truchas. Most of Robert Redford's movie "Milagro Beanfield War" was filmed in Truchas. About six miles to the East, from our front yard, are the 13,000-ft Truchas Peaks, just visible at the bottom of the image. They are part of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, the Southern end of the Rocky Mountain chain.Time
I captured this at 7:20 pm MDT on June 24, 2009. I had a studio in Santa Fe make a large giclce' print on canvas for me. The printer commented that on that evening he happened to looked to the North and saw this sunset, nearly 50 miles away.Lighting
The dynamic range was very wide. And since sunsets won't wait around while you take several spot readings in order to make an estimate of the best overall exposure, I selected the Center Weighted Average setting. Had I had the time, I would have used a tripod, made several exposures, and blended in Photoshop to make the Peaks more visible.Equipment
Handheld, Canon EOS 5D MKII, Canon 16-35 mm lens at 35 mm, ISO 200, f/4, 1/160 sec., Aperture Priority, Center Weighted Average, Camera RAW, Adobe RGB.Inspiration
Given our location, as sunset hour approaches I pay attention to the peaks, anticipating either Alpen Glow or spectacular cloud formations. This particular sunset did not disappoint. I've seen many beautiful sunsets since then, but nothing like this one.Editing
I opened the file in Camera RAW using Photoshop CS6, lowered Highlights and raised shadows, set Clarity at 48, and saved as a TIF file. Probably did a few "fine tuning" things in PS. Perhaps I should have used the Dodging tool on the peaks at the bottom.In my camera bag
All Canon EOS bodies: 5DMk II (subsequently converted to 730 nm Infrared), Mk III, 5DSR, 90D. Canon lenses: 8-15 mm Fisheye, 14 mm ultra-wide-angle, 24-105 mm, 70-200 mm, 65 mm Macro Tamron Lenses: 18-400 mm, 90 mm Macro, 150-600 mm 2X & 4X Teleconverters, extension tubes, Zone-VI Digital Spot Meter, a couple of Canon Speed flash units Plus misc stuff (i.e., too much!)Feedback
Pay attention to the weather, time of day, surroundings, i.e. look for a seemingly dull feature/object that sunset might suddenly brighten up with intense warm light. While you are intently observing your intended center of interest, e.g. the Sun setting in the West, don't forget to TURN AROUND. Something even more interesting could be happening behind you (aside from a bear approaching). While the above image was developing in the East, had I stayed fixated on the setting Sun, I'd have missed it. Likewise, by watching only the image I captured I could have missed a spectacular image to the West. Stay flexible.
