" First Light at North Lake "

[Gerald_Gilligan]

" First Light at North Lake"

Taken in the Eastern Sierra's on October 3, 2010 at 6:50 am.

This was an "Epic Sunrise" for me and about 25+ other photographers that were there this morning...

I don't no if I have captured the total essence of this moment but I'm great full to have "been there" and came away this image...

This is one image with the foreground brought up with layer adjustments in CS4.

I have considered cropping a little off of the right but wanted to present it as taken...

All comments welcome...

5D MKII
1/10 sec.
f/11
ISO 800
19mm
RAW
CS4

[thijs broekkamp]

What a colours and a great compo!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Gerald, It pays to rise up early and get the drama that this type of light can give you. Great clouds along with the fall colors gives the image great visual impact. As stated you could crop some off the rt but the strong reflection acts as a leading line bringing the eye to the mountains. The only suggestion that I have would have been to have moved a little to the rt in order to get more of the reflection of the mountain top.
Very pleasing image...

[Bill Randall]

Wow, bang, pow. That would be the captions in a comic book. The sunrise makes me glad to be alive. Good job. The colors and comp wow.

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Thank you for the responses !

Dave,
I agree...
I arrived early and set up at this location...after about 20 minutes there were multiple tripods all around. As the light came up I realized that I should have moved over to the right about ten feet but there were others standing there.
I would have had more mountain reflection but much less going on in the lower left side of the frame, which I feel helps anchor this image... I need to scout a location more thoroughly in the future, to take advantage of the composition.

Jerry

[Robert Amoruso]

Thank you for the responses !

Dave,
I agree...
I arrived early and set up at this location...after about 20 minutes there were multiple tripods all around. As the light came up I realized that I should have moved over to the right about ten feet but there were others standing there.
I would have had more mountain reflection but much less going on in the lower left side of the frame, which I feel helps anchor this image... I need to scout a location more thoroughly in the future, to take advantage of the composition.

Jerry


Jerry, That's why you bring two tripods and two cameras and set up at different spots. :p

As mentioned, great light and reflection

[Valerio Tarone]

Hi gilli
few to add to previous comments. Great colors and reflex! Like the position of the rock on LL side leading the eye.

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Robert,
I actually set up a second camera for time lapse and found that managing two camera's was a bit of a challenge... I agree with you and maybe I should try to focus on one style of taking pictures and using time lapse for other opportunities...

[Andrew McLachlan]

Gerald, agree with the previous comments. I love the colors and the reflections.

[Arthur Morris]

Love the colors and reflections. It looks to my eye that it needs a bit of CW rotation but when I brought it into Photoshop I could find no evidence of that.

Getting two feet closer and a foot higher(if possible) might have done lots of good things for this image. It would have put you a bit more above the grass.

You did well. I would not have taken an inch off the right.

[Jason Kinsey]

Absolutely love the light on the top of the mountains in this image!!! Wow. Very nicely done-I may head out and shoot the sunrise in the morning after seeing that....

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jerry,
Sweet!!! You are aware of the move right....but just trim a touch of grass that touches the top of the mountain in PP'ing.....and this works great all around!

[Roger Clark]

Gerald,

Absolutely stunning!!!!

I would not crop at all, but I think lightening the right side would help in my opinion.

Question, why ISO 800? I would have lowered ISO to reduce apparent noise and give high dynamic range.

Roger

[Doug Brown]

I'm not a landscape guy, but I sure do love this image!

[Morkel Erasmus]

also curious about your ISO setting? presume you forgot it on 800 the previous day?

awesome light here - the kind we get up for day after day and maybe it shows up sometimes :)

the fall colours really add here...can't add much to compositional critiques given.

Robert - do you suggest then to have one camera on a remote trigger on one composition to automatically take bracketed images and another to which you devote more creative juices?

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Roger, Morkel,

The high ISO setting must have been from the previous night. I do not usually venture past 200 and usually stay on 100... but with the new 5D I have on occasion...usually for night time-lapses...

Jerry

[Hank Christensen]

Jerry,

I was up there about a week after you! Looks like you were there right before the snowstorm moved through. I think this image works so well because the sun-capped ridge top echos the yellows of the aspen along the shoreline. Both contrast very well against the darker blues and purples of the sky and water reflection. That's a very nice composition and pick of foreground elements from a spot that doesn't offer much!

[Chris Ober]

Fabulous! Minor but I wonder if it would help at all if the rock on the left wasn't covering up some of the tree line. Wonderful shot, congrats.

[Jeffrey Sipress]

Jerry I was there that say, as well. Great image! I didn't catch this earliest light, but the morning sure was wild with all the sun, clouds, snow, hail, etc.

BTW, the range is the Sierra, never as a plural. Not the 'Sierra's"

[Arthur Morris]

BTW, the range is the Sierra, never as a plural. Not the 'Sierra's"

Jeff, Sierra's is the possessive not the plural :) So that gets us to this:

"Taken in the Eastern Sierra's on October 3, 2010 at 6:50 am."

That gets us to "Taken in the Eastern Sierras on October 3, 2010 at 6:50 am."

I would assume that you would want that to be "Taken in the Eastern Sierra on October 3, 2010 at 6:50 am."

If that is correct, then is it wrong to say "We visited the Rockies"?

I am not sure; just playing devil's advocate.

[Arthur Morris]

And what about, "Taken in the Eastern Sierra Nevadas on October 3, 2010 at 6:50 am." ?

[Hank Christensen]

The reason that "Sierra" shouldn't have a plural is that in Spanish it means "range of mountains", which is already in a plural form. "Sierra Nevada" mean "snowy mountain range", so for that to be plural, it would actually mean multiple ranges, which is not the case here. I know it sounds weird, and common vernacular pluralizes it all the time, so I think it really comes down to preference. Personally, I use (and prefer) the non-pluralized form, but I don't hate on those who pluralize it! :D

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Hank. That makes sense to me.

[Gerald_Gilligan]

Jeffrey,

I appreciate the correction on grammar. I agree with you that it is "Sierra"

I really try hard to have all of my words spelled correctly...I had to smile as you said that you were up there that "say". I know that you meant "day"...

I usually re-read my responses or google the proper spelling to stay accurate before I hit "submit reply".

Many others misspell words in their critiques to posts...and some of them are the moderators !

When I read a post and come across a misspelled word, It usually stops me for a moment or two... as I try to figure out what their real intended word was and then continue on to their point.

I'm not perfect on my grammer or spelling either as you have pointed out...I hope that I haven't missed one here!

Artie,
Thank you for being the devils advocate it helped !

Hank,
I spent more time at North Lake this year than usual...I camped at Intake II for 5 days and was closer to the action...There was rain, snow, lightning, thunder, rainbows, warm weather and awesome color, I couldn't have picked a better time to be there. Bishop is a special place !

Right after this image was made as Jeffrey explained, the random light beams were putting on a show for all that stayed after the sunrise...I was also able to create a few HD video's and a few time lapses.

Thank you all for your comments and wisdom !

Jerry

[Arthur Morris]

Jerry, YAW. I have always had a keen interest in writing, usages, spelling, and word derivations and am always eager to learn.

[Robert Amoruso]

also curious about your ISO setting? presume you forgot it on 800 the previous day?

awesome light here - the kind we get up for day after day and maybe it shows up sometimes :)

the fall colours really add here...can't add much to compositional critiques given.

Robert - do you suggest then to have one camera on a remote trigger on one composition to automatically take bracketed images and another to which you devote more creative juices?


Sorry I did not see your question until now. I have done that but I was being sarcastic and inferring you should take up two spots. But I have had my wife at one setup and me at the other when I set up before dawn in locations like this that get busy. She works one and I the other, but I go back and forth to.