Rainier Sunrise

The outline of Mount Rainier is made faintly visible by the overpowering

light of a rising sun. Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks.

Stephen, a classic subject and you have captured and presented quite well.  I enjoy the soft ocean with the brilliant sky!  It's almost dream like.  Thanks for sharing your vision.  Doug.

I like this image too!  I am assuming that you are on a high-point (peak, ridge?) and above the layer of clouds that we are seeing in the middle-distance?  This is really a superb image, and that faint outline of Rainier is simply astounding!  Well seen and captured!  Cheers!  Chris

Thanks for the comments.  This was taken from a relatively high ridge in a managed forest west of Olympia (and west of Mt. Rainier).  The trees at this spot were cut about 10 years ago, and the new growth had not yet obscured the view.  Keeping with the concept of "multiple use," I will admit that I took out a few fast-growing trees that were about to interfere with photographers like me.  This spot was only 30 minutes from my house, so I've made many visits at sunrise and moonrise.  With this photo, I am above a thick layer of fog that is covering Olympia and Puget Sound -- these were wonderful conditions.  

It looks like a painters rendering as much as it does a photograph - that's meant as a compliment.The blend of sun, fog and mountain with the gradation of colors seems to come from one's imagination.

Fabulous shot.  Also thanks for your description of doing it.  Great Artistic one.  Best regards,

I think the faint visibility of Mt. Rainier emphasizes the beauty of the photography other than the wonderful clouds and the the rising sun rendered un-flared. I was wondering if a little wider lens could have produced an image just as beautiful? Regards, Stephen  -  Lester

Lester, I think a slightly wider lens would have worked well by giving Mt. Rainier just a bit more breathing room.  With film cameras, I was never quite sure how a photo with the sun would turn out (although I got pretty good at metering such a shot), and a photo like this is nearly impossible with digital (IMO and in my experience).  So this will be a fond memory from my years with film, something I'll probably never be able to duplicate.

Just last night I tried a single-shot photo that included the sun, and despite being done with a high-end digital camera (Hasselblad H4D-40) it looked very bad.  Digital just can't record good tonal transitions around the sun in the manner that film can.

Stephen, thanks for this valuable information. This clearly illustrates the merits of the use of film.