A sunrise to remember

A shot taken while mountaineering in the Swiss alps.

 

That early morning,

all our concentration was needed to cross this crevasse on a

not-so-stable snow bridge... this done, looking back, the first

sunrise light started to come up.

 

I hope this picture, straight out of camera, can convey some of the

emotions of being out there: your opinion and comments on this and any

other of my mountain shots is most welcome.

I am absolutely captured by this photograph. After looking at many, I would keep returning to this one. It is breath-taking the way the sun is just coming up from behind the mountains. It gives the peaks such definition and a great palette of colours - it must have felt surreal being there - inside this perfect picture. Did you take this trip/hike for the purpose of photographing landscape or was this photo taken by chance?

Colori suggestivi!

Lovely landscape with amazing colors, well done and best regards!

This is an extraordinary photo. I really like the colors and shapes. In terms of composition, I would have preferred the sun to be in one of the corners (just my preference). Technicaly, I would increase the brightness just a tad in the middle third of the photo (the mountaines). Just a tad, no more than that. Thanks for posting. I wish we had snow here, but this winter has been very dry.

The captiobn sums up the spirit of the image. Excellent capture.

wisely and pleasantly composed ...

Salvatore, I have to agree with you on this one. The suggestion of warmth coming with this sunrise, gladdens the heart and spirit. You excel in exploring spaces that are full of mystery and beauty. Here you hit the mark yet again. I love the deepth of this shadowy expanse...

Thanks to all of you for the appreciation of this image. It is interesting to notice that it was long forgotten in my files, as I did not consider posting it and only recently resurfaced.

• Jen Did you take this trip/hike for the purpose of photographing landscape or was this photo taken by chance? That's a tough question of sorts. I starting taking pictures to show what these places are like, and sometimes a reason to visit those places is indeed taking pictures.
• Andrea, Rafik Thanks!
• Momo I see your point about the roughly-centered composition of the sun. On the other hand, the glacier in the bottom of the valley is indeed on the W->E axis, and off-setting the sun would have meant off-setting all the symmetry of the valley below us, so I left it as you see it.
• A.K. Thanks, I usually try to find captions which give a meaning to the shot. I am glad to see I was on target this time.
• Daily Thanks, I see you are still on the mission to make me blush!
• David I had not concentrated on this feeling, originally, but indeed this is a sense of expectation which the first light of the day bring you when out there. Provided you are not a bit late on your schedule, in this case, concerns that snow bridges will soon be too soft and couloirs will not hold largely overrun aesthetic considerations.

Perfecta luz, color y un bellisimo encuadre, un cordial saludo Salvatore...http://www.hectorbrandan.com/images/julio-carmona.gif

 

 

 

Gracias, Julio.

As you describe it, it sounds almost like a grab shot, yet the composition is quite elegant, the crevasse forming a diagonal that leads into the valley and then to the mountains and the view of the sunrise beyond. The sky is lovely, but the real achievement here is in the subtle tonality of the shadows and the sense of depth. Straight out of the camera? Wow, a superb exposure.

Yes Chris, straight out of the camera. Sometimes, when beauty sourrounds you it is easy, though.

 

Concerning the grab-shots versus the more complex ones, almost all of my mountain shots are grab-shots of sorts: the places, within a meter or so, were we end up passing are quite obliged, and there is not so much roaming around. I just tried to do my best to train my eye to compose within seconds, and my brain to get the proper settings and compensation dialled in with a few seconds more (not to mention my fingers to do this often in thick gloves!).

Yes, puts me right into the experience. I've done a bit of snow camping in the Sierras and for me I never completely acclimated to the experiences, as I was never out for more than three days at a time. That meant that I would see incredible beauty under stressful circumstances but rather than shut down, it somehow opened me up to the vision. Hard to explain. I feel the cold and the exposure in the cool, dark details. And I see a reason for me being there in the sunrise. Very well detailed and exposed. The colors are perfect in their relative intensities.

I would see incredible beauty under stressful circumstances but rather than shut down, it somehow opened me up to the vision.

Peter, you nailed it. Sometimes the last thing you want to do is to stop the party (many a picture of mines is taken going fast to build slack if I am following, or slowing down if I am leading to then run later), take gloves off, get distracted away from more urgent tasks...all to take a picture. The advantage of the stressful circumstances, however, is that they result in the slow build-up of a second nature: framing without using the camera (I suffered badly the move to the 1.5x digital crop factor, having to re-learn), very fast technical execution, almost automatic application of exposure compensation (even though digital spoiled me into bracketing)...

Now this one is amazing and not noisy, Great!