Mountain Gradient

This shot was taken back in September of 2021, there was a dense haze over the mountains, and I was struggling to define a composition. Eventually I spotted a dip in the tree line at the base of a hill, almost framing my sunset. I decided to see if I could work within the confines of the space. Despite being fairly unsure of the quality of light I would get because of the cloud cover, I felt that it was worth the wait once the light began really kicking off, and for a moment I forgot why I was up there to begin with. One of the best sunsets of 2021 in my opinion.

Today I wanted to bring up an odd habit we photographers develop. We scout our locations, delve into speculation about how our shot is going to come out under very specific lighting conditions, and we almost push that to the point where, if the light isn’t exactly how we imagined it, we wont bother. How do you escape that? Push yourself beyond fantasy, and into a situation where we are once again capturing the moment as it is, not how we dreamed?

For me, at least, the answer has been going to places I haven’t scouted, had time to imagine lighting perfection. Forcing myself out of the comfort zone that feeds into that. This photo is an example of stepping out of the comfort zone and into something more difficult. Going out when the rain is pouring, going out when there isn’t a cloud in the sky. Taking a moment to push your boundaries, and re quantify what you love about photography.

Until Next Time!

ISO: 640
Aperture: f10
SS: 1/15th
Focal: 31mm

Fujinon 16-55mm