Sunset off Admiralty Island Photo

Photographer’s Note

We have returned from a Sierra Club trip through the Inside Passage - the cluster of islands and channels that make up the Alaska Panhandle. Most of the time it was overcast, often rainy :-( but one evening we had a decent sunset (and on our last night, after we left the boat, we had a spectacular sunset - but I'm saving that for later). We were anchored off West Brother Island, in the Stephens Passage between Admiralty Island and the mainland, and we went out in kayaks and the skiff to look at things from water level.

I picked this scene because to my mind it gives a flavor of what a perfect quiet evening can be like on still water that reflects the last rays of the sun through the tall evergreens, mostly hemlock and sitka spruce, and the mountains rising everywhere out of the sea. This kind of water also makes great abstract reflections - see the WS for an example.

Technical: Sharpened in Camera RAW. Bit of curves to strengthen the yellow - TE was washing it out.

feather, plimrn has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

feather (50560) 2009-08-28 12:59

The peach and grey combination of both the sky and the reflected colour in the water is beautiful; very serene. I love the translucence of the water surface, but I just wonder if there's just a bit too much under-exposed areas. I know silhouettes are what you get in these conditions, but maybe there's too many of them here. Of the two WSs I prefer WS2, which retains the translucence that I like so much. I find WS1 a bit on the dark side. The only negative I find with WS2 is the focus goes off at the top and it's the sharpness of the rippled reflections that also appeals to me. I'm being very honest here. I hope that's OK
Kath

plimrn (19872) 2009-08-28 16:35

Hi Dan,
I love the reflection dancing on the water. I thought that was Alaska when I saw the thumbnail; it definitely has the feeling of the Inside Passage. I also like the low POV, it DOES give the feeling of being on the water. We too encountered a lot of overcast in SE Alaska.
HLJ, Pat