Conquistadors of the Useless

As you might imagine, when I shot this with a fix 20mm lens, I could

not move around to better frame the image... Either I would have had

the climbers over their sheer rock face sloping 800m downwards, or I

would have taken them in context, with the magnificent scenario of the

Swiss Alps all around, provided you go and look for those tiny red

dots to the right bottom corner... did the choice pay off?

 

Your comments, suggestions and advise on my expanding mountain

portfolio are the most welcome.

I think it's a great shot. Many compliments!

Davvero una bella foto e, tra l'altro, a mio parere la presenza cos젤ecentrata degli alpinisti e le loro proporzioni non fanno altro che rafforzare l'idea della piccolezza dell'uomo rispetto alla grandezza dello scenario naturale.

An enchanting picture. I didn't notice the climbers until you pointed them out, but my eyesight is less than perfect. Suggestion: Why don't you enlarge the lower right corner in relation to the rest of the picture, assuming you have sufficient resolution to get away with it?

Excellent, congratulations

another great shot

Same as my previous comment....

it's extreme in many ways - but I like it just as is!

Crop the right? Make the figures look more isolated by getting rid of some of the horizontal part of the peak?

 

Also wondering what taking a little off the left would do... to get rid of the part of the cloud sloping down. This would create a second, weaker, V to go with the central one, and the inverted V created by the bottom peak.

 

Great sense of scale.

man... at first I didn't see the climbers, but after I saw them... wow, fantastic

Awesome beauty of Nature! Excellent image,Salvatore.

Thanks for the link, this is a clever composition with balance (the crop can be discussed, ok), an awesome scenery. And the tiny mountaineers as scaling factor are indeed valuable, also as a splash of color... Just curious: what do you lug around on such a climb ? D70 + how many lenses ?

 

Cheers

Carsten

Long time I did not visit this shot, so my belated thanks to the (sincerely surprising) accolade of comments. I've a few more of that day which might be posten once the bottom of the barrel will get in need of a severe scraping.

 

The crop, I reckon, is objectionable but keep in mind, I could not step back some 20 meters and get more view!

 

Carsten, the kit is the D70 in a lowepro TLZ mini (where is a bit squeezed) with the 20mm/2.8 attached. Polariser in front, of course. Spare battery in the front pocket. Cleaning magic cloth in the lid pocket. That's it. It get attached in diagonal to my backpack/harness and to the backpack shoulder strap. It is usually out of the way and allows full freedom of motion.

On the descent that day, though, I bounced around a bit while coming down a rope we had fixed, and crashed the polariser.

 

On "easier" days I also carry the 50mm/1.4 in a street&field small pouch also strapped to the belt of my backpack. Polarised+warmed. I was not using it anymore given the 1.5x factor, but I'm starting to try it again recently.

Thank you for response ! So you are a "prime aficionado" - your crisp and clean shots speak for themselves. However, in the Canon world there is a zoom (17-40/4L) that is nearly as good as Canons best primes, and I would consider this for me, if I ever manage such a climb ;-)

 

Cheers

Carsten

Carsten, I might have been unlucky with my zooms, and I grew more and more into the prime thing... not regretting it at all. Encourages the use of the legs (where there is space) and of the brain where there is none. Eventually, I grew able to "see" the shot on film before even bringing the camera up, so that I could shot without losing too much time while on the move. With the digital 1.5x this happens with the 20mm. I bought a 35mm hoping to re-cycle my 50mm vision from film, but the lens is poor. I'm now training my 50mm vision on digital... and considering an 85mm prime.

 

Alas, I owe a 70-200/2.8 zoom which I guess has never seen the mountains... ways too heavy and bulky, and I would regret breaking it!