Smoke in the Monashees

Gallery: Man & FaunaPosted March 11, 2011403 views10 comments

This was taken from an aircraft in July during fire season, of smoke in the Monashee Mountains between here and coastal British Columbia. Taken with a Canon 5D II 24-105 @ 97 mm, f/14. 1/80s, ISO 200. Sharpened slightly, cross balanced, and a faint bicolor filter applied, due to the monochromatic color presentation of the landscape through heavy smoke haze. The haze filters out large parts of the visible spectrum, so the mountains look pretty brownish, when they are usually several different colors of blue and green. Some spots removed. (Air pollution is one of my study subjects). Comments and critisms most welcome.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Balan Vinod on March 12, 2011 at 1:19 AM

Yes ...its unfortunate that the earth has to see disasters like this ..btw ...the composition is fantastic ..the subtle shades of blue which takes you to the horizon ...well done..

Balan Vinod

Registered on March 20, 2006, 889 Posts, 2312 Comments

Comment posted by Hank Pennington on March 12, 2011 at 9:21 AM

It's often very difficult to distinguish between smoke and fog in photos Kat, but this one does so nicely. The combination of composition, color and the layer of clouds in the background pulls it all together. I think without the clouds for a "marker" of normal cloud color, the color of the smoke could easily be lost in translation. Add to all that the detail peeking through here and there between the ridges, and I doubt any viewer would mistake the smoke for fog. Nicely done!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 226 Posts, 1532 Comments

Comment posted by KatherineAnne Enns on March 12, 2011 at 7:54 PM

Thanks so much for taking the time to comment on my photograph, Hank and Balan! I worked quite hard on this one and tried several different attempts to get to where I felt it was ready to present here. I should present some of my arctic haze pollution shots too!

kat

Registered on January 5, 2011, 22 Posts, 137 Comments

Comment posted by KatherineAnne Enns on March 15, 2011 at 12:15 AM

Thank you, Steve. High praise indeed.

kat

Registered on January 5, 2011, 22 Posts, 137 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on March 16, 2011 at 7:23 AM

Yuck! I hope our area doesnt end up looking like this, we're under a bad drought and the fire danger is increasing. As mentioned, an effective comp with some nice layers. If it were me, id adjust the color balance a bit so the sky is less cyan and more blue--especially the top portion, that would allow a better contrast between the smoke layer and the cleaner atmosphere up high.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by KatherineAnne Enns on March 17, 2011 at 12:16 AM

Thanks Stan for the comment. The blue above the clouds is not clean, either. I was shooting up through thinner smoke to the blue. The cyan is actually fairly true, here is a re-jigging but i honestly dont think its much different.

I believe that grounwater depletion in the US is severe in some places. There is a band of high level haze in the north, its quite severe in the arctic and subarctic in July and August, and yes, it will get worse.

Registered on January 5, 2011, 22 Posts, 137 Comments

Comment posted by Andrius Pašukonis on March 17, 2011 at 7:22 PM

Congrats on the EP.

It definetly is a strong environmental picture. I almost feel the smell of smoke while looking at it

Registered on July 23, 2005, 111 Posts, 408 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on March 18, 2011 at 1:46 AM

Lovely image - congrats on the EP!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by KatherineAnne Enns on March 18, 2011 at 7:26 PM

I'm honored! Did not expect this at all!

Registered on January 5, 2011, 22 Posts, 137 Comments

Comment posted by Tim Downey on March 19, 2011 at 11:29 PM

Very evocative. I can smell the smoke from my fireline days.

Looks like the scouts are out, too. More thunderstorms in the afternoon......equals more overtime.

Registered on December 8, 2009, 0 Posts, 28 Comments