This scene didn't look like it was going to be anything at 7:00 AM. Then, at 7:15 AM, it was one of the most beautiful, glorious, colorful scenes I've ever experienced. It was a function of the sun peeking through a narrow area under the clouds at the moment of sunrise. 30 seconds after this image capture, the light was blocked by clouds and all went gray.
The mountain wave cloud was impressive and caught some of the alpenglow light.
I've already learned that people with poorly calibrated monitors will not appreciate this image. For them, the shadows will be blocked up in some areas. I debated brightening the entire image, but decided to leave it, as seen with my eyes. I mean, it was sunrise and much of the foreground was in deep shade. So, I might not score as well with this, but I didn't want the scene to look unnatural. It is one image. Not HDR blend. I want the eyes to be drawn up from the valley to the sun illuminated peaks and then the ominous clouds. That's the plan... and I'm sticking with it.
Also, many people will be skeptical of the long wavelength light on the peaks at sunrise. The image has not been saturation enhanced. That's the way it looked to my eyes. I'm used to the doubt of the high country color by flatlanders.
On April 1, the first full day of voting, this image was knocked way down in score. Something wrong with that. I'm glad it is recovering, albeit slowly. It will have a tough time regaining early levels.
Statistics
Place: 59 out of 279 Avg (all users): 6.2126 Avg (commenters): 7.0000 Avg (participants): 6.1905 Avg (non-participants): 6.2558 Views since voting: 1008 Views during voting: 217 Votes: 127 Comments: 8 Favorites: 1 (view)
Another beautiful rendition of this, Richard. Though the positioning is only slightly changed, the bright color of sunlight on the hills and the nicely colored sky really open this scene up. It shares the same fantastic scenery as The Ides of March 7:14, but while that one emphasized detail in the topography and nice tones, the color here adds a bit of hopefulness and optimism to the morning. The color also adds another dimension to the great weather in the left of the frame. Excellent landscape.
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