In the Field

Fiery Skies in the Rockies. Near Talus Lodge, BC, Canada. September 15, 2007.

While I don't fancy myself as much of a landscape photographer, sometimes my travels present me with scenes just begging to be photographed. This was one such case - we had just climbed to the top of a high alpine ridge on a beautiful, cloudless September day when a forest fire literally exploded several kilometres to the west. I missed the initial plume (which resembled a mushroom cloud), but captured this shot of the spreading smokey clouds moments later. By the time this image was captured, the poor inhabitants of the lodge and cabins at Mount Assiniboine would have been totally obscured by smoke (Mount Assiniboine is just outside the right-hand boundary of this image).

Two comments on this image. First, there's an old saying in photography: "F8 and BE THERE". It more or less means that no matter what kind of camera you have, it won't do any good unless you're out there shooting. This image only happened because I WAS there (and carrying my camera gear). So...get out there!

Second, in today's age of digital photography many shooters no longer carry polarizing filters. While much of the "look" of a polarizing filter can be created using image editing techniques in Photoshop, if you're shooting landscapes and panoramas in alpine areas (or many other areas), there's still no substitute for a polarizer. This image was shot through a polarizing filter - without it the colours of the sky were MUCH flatter. I recommend carrying one.

This image was shot near Talus Lodge, which is a beautiful alpine lodge located in an extremely remote section of the southern Canadian Rockies. If you're into the geology of, biology of, photography of, or any other activity associated with alpine meadows and high alpine ridges, Talus Lodge is definitely worth checking out!

Behind the Camera

Fiery Skies in the Rockies. Near Talus Lodge, BC, Canada. September 15, 2007.

Digital Capture; Uncompressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 100.

Nikon D2X with Nikon 17-55 mm f/2.8 DX G ED-IF AF-S lens @ 26 mm (39 mm equivalent with digital conversion factor) - handheld and with circular polarizing filter.

1/80s @ f8; -0.67 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Fiery Skies in the Rockies. Near Talus Lodge, BC, Canada. September 15, 2007.

RAW Conversion to 16 bit TIFF, including first-pass sharpening and exposure compensation using Phase One's C1 Pro. Multiple RAW conversions (2 at different exposure settings) in this case to balance shadow and highlight detail (see below).

Further digital correction on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS3 and LightZone 3. Minor tonal adjustments performed in LightZone (using the ToneMapper/Relight tool). Photoshop adjustments included compositing and masking of two exposure versions (primarily to lighten foreground shadows) and selective saturation enhancement.

Conservation

Fiery Skies in the Rockies. Near Talus Lodge, BC, Canada. September 15, 2007.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation (Y2Y) Initiative.

This image was captured in a high alpine area near the British Columbia - Alberta border. The region shown in this image is considered as of significant importance in maintaining genetic connectivity between northern and southern populations of many species, including large carnivores.

The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation (Y2Y) Initiative seeks to ensure that the world-renowned wilderness, wildlife, native plants, and natural processes of the Yellowstone to Yukon region continue to function as an interconnected web of life, capable of supporting all of its natural and human communities, for current and future generations.