South Georgia rugged

[John Chardine]

No not the southern US or even the central European country, this is the island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic Ocean. Relatively few people visit the place as it is quite isolated, the surrounding seas are rough and the weather is energetic and changeable. I have been lucky to return to this most amazing place irregularly since 1997. The island's mountains and glaciers make their own weather as you can see here with the shroud of cloud over the mountain range behind. A retreating glacier can be seen at the right (they are all retreating on the island).

I processed this with Photomatix Pro as a single image and used an adjusted HDR B/W preset. The result was noisy (disadvantage of using one image) so I ran a modest NR over everything, then sharpened up the foreground after a crop from the top and a resize. Hope you like it.

Date: 13 November, 2011, Time: 0529h
Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM, @ 70 mm
Program: Aperture Priority
ISO 400, 1/2000s, f/7.1

[Dave Mills]

Hi John, I like the mountain layers along with the interesting cloud formations. Good detail,lighting and conversion. The only thing I might do is add a bit more to the bottom.

[John Chardine]

Thanks Dave. The image does seem top-heavy. Problem is that the bottom is the sea and featureless. In camera I crop so that I don't have much of it to begin with but I think I have a bit to add here. Maybe it doesn't need that much? This is a continuing dilemma for me when I am on the ship- beautiful landscapes are all around but there's the sea below each and every one of them. I have struggled for years to know what to do about it and have generally concluded to crop tight at the bottom. Again, maybe a little bit more would do it. I'll experiment.

[Don Railton]

Hi John... Firstly, you are a lucky guy...! I would love to go there....

I love the image, especially the sunlight on the glacier and the rolling cloud over the mountain tops... I agree with Dave that more foreground would make it stronger as its difficult to determine exactly what the foreground is as posted. It could easily be a river flat... I have walked up the Tasman glacier in New Zealand when I was a lot younger and into mountaineering, this took me right back there in a flash...

DON

[John Chardine]

Thanks Don. It truly is an amazing place. When I said the sea is featureless in my last post, I should have said "in this case". I usually try to include a feature like an iceberg in images like this but often you are just not lucky, especially when I go which is early spring. At that time, the glaciers have not really begun the summer calving season.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks for sharing. I leave for my third visit, my second with Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris, in mid-October :)

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi John - Nice to see you posting in Landscapes. I really like the layers and interplay of shadows and light here. The b&w works well though it is probably gorgeous in color too. I agree that a bit more see in the fg would probably take it up a notch as it does feel tight there. I hope you'll post some more from your trips.

TFS,
Rachel

[Mark Wiseman]

Hi John,
I agree with what has been said above with regards to the foreground and might consider cropping a wee bit off the top to give more balance. A nice conversion, but it would be nice to see in colour, as is could also be dramatic.
Thanks for sharing and best wishes,
Mark.

[Andrew Aveley]

What an awesome place..........Great image with sound advice. Maybe a touch more contrast :)

[John Chardine]

Thanks again everyone!

Being a fuddy-duddy and language pedant (although I still make spelling mistakes but I blame the computer), I often cringe when I hear "awesome" but Andrew has used the word in exactly the right context. The "A" word truly can be applied to South Georgia.

[Robert Amoruso]

Unique looking image John. I like the B&W treatment and agree with a bit more contrast is warranted. I think minimizing the water is a good option here but would prefer to have seen a little more if it.