Mt Hood Ablaze W/REPOST

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 11, 20065,593 views52 comments

Well, I've probably visited Trillium Lake At least a dozen times in the last 16 months. I've taken it on as a personal project of sorts/determined to grab a dramatic cloudscape form this area, of which I really haven't seen "major" cloud captures to date from here. I've seen some with lightly spattered pink smudges, and even some real nice gold glow...but none with an event like this.
It was about 7pm and I looked at Hood from my street. What I saw was open skies to the west and clouds above Hood, and they looked like they could stay there. You never know, as I've had many instances where I had sweet clouds above hood 20 minutes before the glow hits, only to disolve at the last minute. So I grabbed the pack, and tripod and raced up the road to the mountain.
I'm pretty pleased with what happened cloud-wise on this night, and as the sky began to work it's magic, all I could here behind me was "man, I sure wish I had my camera" from all of the lake go-ers. I wish there was at least some light on the mountain but this image will have to do.
I'd love to hear what you think about this one...

Comments

52 comments

Comment posted by Eric A. Rosen on July 11, 2006 at 5:54 PM

Well killer cloud.. Looks pretty much like a Lenticular cloud.. similar to the Sierra Wave we get down here every now and then..

Nice colors and the reflection is great....

Registered on November 1, 2003, 139 Posts, 264 Comments

Comment posted by Alice Scoggins on July 11, 2006 at 6:00 PM

Fantastic! What a cloud. I like the patterns in the clouds in the upper left.

Registered on February 21, 2005, 430 Posts, 5959 Comments

Comment posted by Michael E. Gordon on July 11, 2006 at 6:13 PM

Impressive sky, Rick, but overall this is just looking too artificial for my taste.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 90 Posts, 2482 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on July 11, 2006 at 6:16 PM

Holy wow!

Sometimes you just know mother nature loves you.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Pelton on July 11, 2006 at 6:35 PM

That is impressive.

Registered on November 25, 2003, 380 Posts, 4647 Comments

Comment posted by John&Patty Benway on July 11, 2006 at 6:37 PM

Outstanding, cant get any better than that. Good job.

Registered on May 12, 2006, 626 Posts, 8700 Comments

Comment posted by Janet Bowden on July 11, 2006 at 6:41 PM

I have to say I'm with Michael on this one. A beautiful image, don't get me wrong, but it looks a little "too good to be true". You said that you wish that there was more light on the mountain, but 'm thinking that it's too light to achieve a realistic feel. Who knows, I could be way off!
Janet

Registered on August 31, 2005, 62 Posts, 439 Comments

Comment posted by William Vrolyk on July 11, 2006 at 6:42 PM

Rick, your efforts paid off very well. This is a spectacular shot. I have never seen colors so intense and vivid.

Will
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

Registered on November 1, 2003, 278 Posts, 3524 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on July 11, 2006 at 6:47 PM

Absolutely superb! This is the kind of scene we all dream about, and you've captured it in it's glory. Very well done.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Larry Finn on July 11, 2006 at 6:50 PM

Fabulous shot..very nice layout...

Registered on July 6, 2006, 51 Posts, 121 Comments

Comment posted by Leann Greene on July 11, 2006 at 6:51 PM

Gorgeous tenacity! Congratulations on a fantastic image.

Registered on January 25, 2006, 223 Posts, 3566 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Hardeman on July 11, 2006 at 7:15 PM

Rick,

I bet you're really happy! Way to go!

Registered on November 26, 2005, 150 Posts, 233 Comments

Comment posted by Duane Rosenkranz on July 11, 2006 at 7:38 PM

Smokin' shot.

Duane Rosenkranz

Registered on October 13, 2004, 280 Posts, 2661 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ennis on July 11, 2006 at 7:45 PM

Wow! What an incredible sky! Print this one BIG!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 118 Posts, 422 Comments

Comment posted by John Lehmkuhl on July 11, 2006 at 8:05 PM

Something isn't right with Mt. Hood on this. Given the light conditions, the mountain looks too light or something. There is also a bit of halo in the cloud where the mountain and cloud touch that looks processed somehow. Stunning image but needs a little more work, imho.

Registered on May 22, 2005, 165 Posts, 2008 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Moore on July 11, 2006 at 8:08 PM

This is certainly very impressive Rick, cloud formations like this can only develop in and around mountain ranges, and the colour they pick up is amazing!. I really like the reflection!. I can see why Michael and Janet are seeing this as slightly artificial, but having lived in Colorado and experienced skies like these I know this is real!!. Great image Rick!.

Registered on May 23, 2006, 93 Posts, 2228 Comments

Comment posted by Jack Brauer on July 11, 2006 at 8:15 PM

Woohoo!!!! Congrats on such a killer shot! I do agree with John L's comments, but nothing that can't be worked on some more (or less).

Registered on September 12, 2005, 40 Posts, 627 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on July 11, 2006 at 8:26 PM

I can understand the artificial comments, but I tell you that this is what it looked like out there. When one experiences an event like this, the whole environment seems to be different somehow...and that's what I remember. It seemed overly quiet as well. The clouds, mountain, grasses and trees are exposed as seen on scene (except perhaps the far left trees had more detail in them on site.)
I see the light band on the right side of the mountain you are talking about John. It was defintiely not this apparent in the full version at home if I remember correctly. I could have cloned that out for the web version I guess...but then I wasn't that sure that it wasn't glow off the back side of the mountain, or a result of jpeg compression. Now that I look at it some more...the reflection of that same spot has glow line too.
I appreciate all comments here, the good, bad and the ugly

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Kirk Greene on July 11, 2006 at 8:28 PM

This defines f8 and be there. What a privilege to witness this and have the opportunity to create such a powerful image of nature's light show.

Registered on May 12, 2004, 191 Posts, 1578 Comments

Comment posted by Michael E. Gordon on July 11, 2006 at 8:40 PM

Rick: I've spent a lot of time in and on the mountains; exploring them, walking on them, and climbing them - and I myself have been witness to many spectacles of light and moment. I don't doubt that this lightshow was real, but your treatment of it here simply looks overdone to me.

Is this the result of a single exposure?

Registered on November 1, 2003, 90 Posts, 2482 Comments

Comment posted by Nye Simmons on July 11, 2006 at 10:19 PM

Congrats on a great image - the dialogue is almost as interesting as the image itself coming as it does from some very artistic and insightful folks - I agree it looks like HDR capture but I am enjoying rather than trying to dissect out the image - might have expected more color cast in the rest of the image from the kick from that orange sky - however you did it it is a sweet image

Registered on December 12, 2004, 112 Posts, 1111 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Schnepf on July 11, 2006 at 10:19 PM

What an incredible sight Rick. Very awe inspiring. I agree with Michael though to some extent, it has an HDR slightly artificial look, and there is a strong halo around the mountain that is distracting me. Still an incredible image though.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 403 Posts, 2528 Comments

Comment posted by Tomas Kaspar on July 11, 2006 at 11:18 PM

Fantasti light Rick. I think processing is bit over the top.

Registered on December 26, 2005, 158 Posts, 736 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on July 11, 2006 at 11:35 PM

This is two seperate exposures blended with a simple contrast mask as described here:
http://www.astropix.com/PFA/SAMPLE4A/SAMPLE4A.HTM nothing fancy. I wonder what processes everyone else uses for blending two images with a high dynamic range?
I suck at processing images though, so take that into account when looking at my pictures

Sometimes I do overwork them. I'm getting ready for a 3 day hike around Mt Hood...when I get back, I'll start from scratch again on this and see if it comes out any different. Again...thanks for your feedback, as I respect everyone's opinion...and its done a lot for my photography over the last 3 years since I joined up.

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Rodney Dugmore on July 12, 2006 at 1:05 AM

Nice shot Rick
Maybe its a bit overdone -
But it still looks good to me

Registered on January 3, 2004, 76 Posts, 1028 Comments

Comment posted by Cory Freeman on July 12, 2006 at 1:42 AM

Your persistence paid off. Very dramatic and dynamic image.

Registered on December 16, 2003, 107 Posts, 1341 Comments

Comment posted by John Lehmkuhl on July 12, 2006 at 2:40 AM

Blending via color range seems to work a lot better than a direct copy of the whole image and then blurred as the masking element. Select a range of colors that that layer is responsible via the "Color Range" command in the select pull-down in Photoshop. This will select and make a gradual mask that you can then option click on the mask box at the bottom of the layers pallett and it'll invert paste the selected color range into the mask. You'll get less halos to deal with and more natural images this way.....

I made a .jpg of this technique that you can read/download from here:

http://i.pbase.com/g4/96/176296/2/61920005.AxiV9l08.jpg

Registered on May 22, 2005, 165 Posts, 2008 Comments

Comment posted by Martin Hroch on July 12, 2006 at 3:13 AM

As I can see the color of the cloud has been modified (especially the reflection), but anyway who cares, right? Great shot!!!

Registered on December 9, 2005, 24 Posts, 219 Comments

Comment posted by Juza on July 12, 2006 at 5:26 AM

Hi Rick,
I agree with the previous comment about the slightly "artificial" look, but still a spectacular view!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 374 Posts, 10466 Comments

Comment posted by Lori Kincaid on July 12, 2006 at 6:38 AM

Simply amazing. It must have been incredible to be there!

Lori

Registered on November 15, 2003, 90 Posts, 2033 Comments

Comment posted by Prashant Khapane on July 12, 2006 at 10:16 AM

spectacular clouds and scene. A little funky look is due to hdr, also reflection is lighter

Registered on November 1, 2003, 492 Posts, 4580 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Handley on July 12, 2006 at 10:41 AM

Absolutely stunning. Congratulations on terrific image. The sky is a killer.

Michael

Registered on April 1, 2004, 38 Posts, 1301 Comments

Comment posted by Muhammad Zaid Wani on July 12, 2006 at 11:05 AM

Very nice!!

Registered on August 18, 2005, 23 Posts, 1406 Comments

Comment posted by Thomas Biggs on July 12, 2006 at 11:24 AM

Most impressive!!

Registered on January 13, 2005, 310 Posts, 1257 Comments

Comment posted by Erik Lundh on July 12, 2006 at 4:22 PM

Very cool,
For me if anything looks artificial it's the grass and trees on the right. This is a spectacular scene and I now wish I took you up on your invite to tag along.

Registered on May 27, 2004, 267 Posts, 753 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce VanPatten on July 12, 2006 at 5:10 PM

Just the cloud formations themselves are outstanding, but with the color they are spectacular. Well done.

Registered on April 24, 2006, 29 Posts, 58 Comments

Comment posted by Basil Greber on July 13, 2006 at 4:44 AM

Spectacular scene! However... while the foreground greens and the sky looks fantastic, the reflection in the lake and the mountain look very artificial. The mountain has a dark band at its edge, with a bright band on the sky's side, which doesn't look "real"...

Also, I think I'd like it better without the tall tree on the right (= walking a couple of steps to the left).

Basil

Registered on November 8, 2005, 219 Posts, 1340 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on July 13, 2006 at 1:03 PM

Rick,

I think you have a great composition here, but agree with Michael Gordon. I think if you spend some more time on the blending you pull this off and I would like to see look more natural.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on July 15, 2006 at 6:49 PM

WOW! That is some cloud!

Rick, I haven't looked or read any other comments on this, but the first thing that jumps out is both light and dark halo's throughout the image. The most noticable being the darkening on the left side of the main cloud structure. Also, a dark halo around Hood and light halo around the trees at right. This is all likely blend-related enhanced by the JPEG compression. I'm sure re-processing the file will do wonders here.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Jose Suro on July 15, 2006 at 7:34 PM

I normally have the inclination to get into the details of images that I critique, but I hope you don't mind if I only say WOW!

Best,

Jose

Registered on June 24, 2006, 267 Posts, 2273 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on July 16, 2006 at 12:22 AM

Thanks for the comments. Your defintely right. After coming back to this, I MUST totally rework it. I'll give it a wurl tonight...I cant sleep before I fix this thing...

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on July 16, 2006 at 5:33 AM

Well, I finally got a chance to rework this and I think it is tons better. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Let me know what you think please...

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by W. Tracy Parnell on July 17, 2006 at 10:54 AM

Great shot-congrats on EP!

Registered on March 4, 2004, 27 Posts, 1638 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Fach on July 17, 2006 at 12:43 PM

Rick: I wake up form my nap and see this. Wonderful image and I do think the repost is better. Bravo! >=))>

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1805 Posts, 26981 Comments

Comment posted by Jeremy Cram on July 17, 2006 at 2:38 PM

Wow Rick!
I saw the first one and noticed some haloing and such, but with the rework it REALLY shines! Congrats on the EP also!!

Registered on June 4, 2006, 204 Posts, 818 Comments

Comment posted by Jack Graham on July 17, 2006 at 10:17 PM

Rick,

I was over there in early June, but shot mostly wildflowers (Trillium--what else!).

I wondered what this looked like at the right time!. Now I know.

Fantastic!

Regards,
Jack

Registered on November 26, 2003, 158 Posts, 574 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Anderson on July 18, 2006 at 2:02 PM

Rick,

Congratulations on your EP - Well deserved! The redo is perfect.

Mike Anderson
www.lightscapephoto.com

Registered on January 31, 2006, 228 Posts, 3072 Comments

Comment posted by Marty Preslar on July 19, 2006 at 12:31 AM

This is a stunning image. Beyond description! Bravo!!!! Congrats on the EP!

(and the re-post is even better! WOW!)

Registered on June 10, 2006, 51 Posts, 111 Comments

Comment posted by Barry R. Byrd on July 19, 2006 at 1:22 AM

Registered on December 20, 2005, 136 Posts, 970 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on July 23, 2006 at 6:56 PM

I love the cloud in this image! Congratulations on the pick.

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by Verena & Georg Pop on August 4, 2006 at 12:39 PM

although we are kind of late to comment on this one, we just can' t pass it...
Gorgeous! Easy EP! Congratulations!
Verena & Georg

Registered on July 5, 2006, 272 Posts, 2823 Comments

Comment posted by Emmanuel Coupe on July 1, 2007 at 8:43 PM

Holy smoke. Amazing cloud formation and excellent composition.
I think you should try to make some corrections to the mountain, on both images you posted I see marks around the border of the mountain. What an amazing capture though.

Registered on March 17, 2007, 83 Posts, 341 Comments