Boiling Sky + REPOST

Pretty otherworldly sky there.  I really like the almost alien aspect of this.  Compositionally the mountain range going to the left and the darkness at the top of the sky going to the right, with the waves of clouds in between works really well and makes this a very dynamic image.

You gotta love that drama laden sky and the mountains are the perfect anchor for this scene, Harley. The large view is particularly impressive as it showcases all the details rather nicely along with a nice range of tones. Beautifully done.

Ed

That is quite a sky, Mr. H. The mountains add fine anchor, as Ed said. You did fine job on the processing that is particularly evident in the large version. Nicely done!
--P

Harley,

Was wondering if you made it back from your travels.  Looking forward to seeing your crop of images and hearing of your tales from the trip.  Hope it all went smoothly!

And what an awesome start.  I must say though, did you bring Gary with you?  Did he send some dramatic skies your way just for the trip?  ;-)  You certainly have managed to capture and present a wonderful, dynamic and power image.  I also think you've included just enough of the mountain landscape to ground the image and give the sky context (which shows how huge and powerful that sky is!)

Great stuff, looking forward to more.

Lon

This is an outstanding "cloudscape", Harley, with all of the action and drama in the clouds set off well by the rugged mountains.

Awesome sky and your processing looks great - no chunky dark blobs - very smooth transition of tones.  Maybe wish there was a little more mnt at the bottom to form the base of the image.  Feels a little cut off on the bottom, but the clouds do take center stage with this comp.

Son of a gun! You did it! And you took the road less traveled. I know exactly where this is. I'm posting an image of a highway marker right from that area. You my have been standing there when you made this shot. Did you hike to the glacier?

This does indeed look like something Gary would post. I really like the plumes of clouds coming in from the left side of the frame. And the sharp detail in the cliffs below is really nice. in fact, a vertical of the left half would be a good composition s well. I'm really looking forward to your remaining images.

Talk about a sweet sky.  Beautifully done Harley.  I am with Harry about wishing there was a bit more of the mountain range, but dang nice as is.

I've never quite figured out why Alaska has these over-sized clouds, but I've seen it in lots of Alaska images, and it always makes for an engaging composition.  Really like the B&W here and all the texture you were able to pull from the clouds.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I went back to the raw file and reworked it without the bottom crop. Any thoughts on this version vs. the cropped original post?

(You can click on the repost and get the large version, then use the side arrows to go back and forth between the large versions.)

Harley,

I think the added space at the bottom works wonderfully. thanks for taking the time to report.  For me, it's not necessarily the extra space at the bottom, but it's that the extra bit of mountain is darker (tree line?) and I think that frames and anchors the scene better than the original post.  (Remembering of course the sky is the story, but the mountains anchor the scene and I think the repost does a better job at it.

Lon

I like the repost significantly more than the original (which I like also). There is enough texture in those mountains to give them a greater role in the image. Just wanted you to know.