Half way up Steep Mountain above Hollowell Park in RMNP is an aspen grove displaying the best autumn color of the season. The shot angle was at an approximate acute angle of 30 degrees to the sun. I used a fill flash to bring subtle lighting to the shade side of the aspens, ground and small pine & spruce trees, while properly exposing sky and sunlit areas. Otherwise, the dynamic range of the scene and light contrast were so high that detail would have been lost in the shadows with the sky and landscape in the sunlight.
I suspect this entry in this challenge will be panned and voted down. It is thinking "outside the box" and I expect it will be under-appreciated. It's not an image of a model in a studio, but the fill flash principles apply. It is a very legitimate use of fill flash for landscape photography. The way I will know I have done a good job is if anyone says, "There is no evidence of a fill flash." The goal, of course, was to illuminate the dark side of the foreground elements without throwing a conspicuous "flashlight"-like glaring light and distracting shadow.
Polarizing filter. Fill Flash Canon 580EXII with Fong diffuser. Lens focal length 28mm. Tripod mount. One image.
[Oct. 11th, 2010 03:34:03 AM]
The comment from Bear_Music is much appreciated and will be long remembered. Thanks, Robert!
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This is extremely well done. Well enough done that I can't really tell if you DID use flash, except that my experience with similar scenes suggest you almost had to have. So, perfectly balanced :-)
Looks like a Richard Hahn (which is a compliment, if you don't happen to be him).
Great colors in this scene, and good balance between flash and ambient light. I'm slightly torn by the perspective. On one hand, I like the in-the-forest feel, but on the other hand I wish I could see more. I definitely appreciate the photo though.
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