Smith-small-PHOTO-NET

To be as brief as possible, I have been off the grid for quite a while due to the busiest workshop season in my career and then after finishing that, I came home to some major personal losses, yet also some beautiful gains. Not one to dwell on the negative, I focus on the gains. Here is a photo that represents (at least to me) some of those beautiful gains. One gain I will share is that I now live in my dream of dreams locations: BEND Oregon! This truly amazing small town (population 80,000) is very often voted the greatest outdoor recreational town in the US. This has been a lifelong dream for me and I am now living in the very heart of it all! On the "Bend Ale Trail" even! Pinch me! Literally, this photo was taken just a couple weeks ago, just a short drive from where I live. My new place (see my Facebook page if you want more details and images and such...) along with the largest backlog of imagery I have ever had from a crazy spring and summer of furious shooting has me finally back behind the computer working on post production. You know I love that! Lastly, yes my backlog is coming, BUT I am so inspired about my new surroundings (Crater Lake, Smith Rock, Sparks Lake, about 13 mountains in close proximity, too many rivers, lakes and waterfalls to count...) that I just had to start there. About the photo: I was grieving some losses and so to shake it off, I decided to take off and go to this location (a place my dad had me climbing and repelling as a teen). I simply went to the central vista spot and sat in solitude (surprisingly almost no one was there) and just enjoyed the show not worrying about taking a photo so much. At sunset I was met with one of the craziest light shows I have seen in a very long time (most of which was out of the frame directly behind me). I just sat, triggered off some bracketed shots and took it all in. Once the show was over I felt quite rejuvenated as nature often does for me. Techie stuff and miscellaneous information: A double processed RAW file easily blended using my "Blending for Dynamic Range - Blend If" technique. Canon 5D Mark 2Canon 24-105 @ 24f/8 (sharpest f-stop)100 ISO8 second exposureYes, I cloned out a path or two... As always, more accurately viewed using a color managed browser like Safari, Firefox or Chrome, of course meticulously calibrated and maybe even on a wide gamut monitor. I hope you enjoy.Thank you for any comments or suggestions.