Middle Earth dawn Photo

Photographer’s Note

Lake Matheson, near Fox Glacier in New Zealand's South Island, is famous for "mirror" images. The best time for these is apparently early morning. We got up at 0530 and with brisk walking got to the "View of views" position for 0600. This was taken on aperture priority in something of a rush (I was also trying to use a camcorder to film the sunrise). The mist and cloud didn't break for long - but long enough to make for (IMHO) an interesting shot. Levels + contrast slightly adjusted using PSE 3.0, but the colour is as the camera recorded it. The streak in the water is the wake of a duck in case this reduced version isn't clear.

Vicky, Janice, fredon, MvS, robiuk, Ramonven, ydarias, mortijo, SampraS has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Vicky (1438) 2005-02-06 3:09

Hiya Bruce. Well, in my opinion, this was well worth getting up early for. The colours are beautiful and I love that sky!! The mountains and mist are pretty impressive too. Great composition, detail and sharpness. I also like the way the water has mirrored the snow on the mountains at the bottom of the shot. Thanks also for the interesting technical notes. Cheers mate!

danyy (68778) 2005-02-06 3:13

Bonjour Bruce,
Une photo qui me semble réussie sur tous les plans.
De très jolies teintes, cette brume bien installée à mi hauteur, untrès joli reflet dans une eau calme et des arbres jouant les ombres chinoises, aux silhouettes précises.
Bravo Bruce et merci de nous offrir un tel spectacle.
Daniel.

Janice (4386) 2005-02-06 3:18

Magical. This is just perfect Bruce. I agree with ALL Vicky says - colours, compo, details, sharpness, everything. Gone straight into my favoutites.
Kia ora...

fredon (4754) 2005-02-06 3:37

Amazing atmosphere and miroring effect. Light and colors are beautiful. Great work!

fred

bantonbuju (48630) 2005-02-06 3:54

hello Bruce, realy wonderful mountainscape, I like this nearly monochromatic view; Excellent framing, Jerzy

RGatward (19737) 2005-02-06 3:56

Beautiful time of day, and excellent capture. Good use of long DoF, to leave the mountains and foreground in sharp fouc. Very nice shot.

delaufer (260) 2005-02-06 4:14

Great shot. Beautiful colors and atmosphere. Nice and sharp with great DOF. Very pleasing composition.

puffy (263) 2005-02-06 4:28

Hi Bruce, great shot... as it is, early bird get the worm and you get the perfect sunrise! :) well capture, good composition! Very well done!

dkeus31 (26182) 2005-02-06 5:03

Nice reflection, good colors and composition.

MvS (4163) 2005-02-06 5:39

Bruce,
Such beauty. The colours are fantastic, and you almost miss the mountain in the background.
Regards,
MvS

robiuk (10763) 2005-02-06 6:56

I'm glad you managed - and you managed very well, Bruce!
Reflection and colours are stunning, indeed!
Marvelous capture,
Robi

Kenny10pin (19301) 2005-02-06 7:04

wonderful pic, I like hte colour and the ambience of the setting and tones too, well done indeed, really good work

Maru (0) 2005-02-06 7:32

Impressive colors and reflections. Nice different textures over the hole composition.. clouds and vegetation in the lake add quite some magic to the "mirror" and I like how the dark tree silhouettes works here as a symetry.
Nice work

Amandine (1026) 2005-02-06 10:05

What a wonderfull picture ! Colorsa re sweet and luminous, the first plan contrast with the fog of the second plan because it's very sharp an dthe mountains on the background are almost hidden by the clouds. It's very well done

Ramonven (124) 2005-02-06 11:26

This is Super!! Incredible picture of a very beautifull place!! Amazing!! Take care! Ramon

jkneze (506) 2005-02-10 15:59

Impressive, really impressive. I have nothing else to say, speachless.

zhubenov (137) 2005-02-12 10:43

There is almost nothing to add... Super

ydarias (657) 2005-08-11 15:08

Hola Bruce. Una gran foto, tienes mucha razón, los reflejos son fantásticos y la aparición del pato en la foto no ha estropeado para nada el resultado final. En cuanto a los colores estan muy bien, son muy suaves y aparentan mucha tranquilidad. Muy buen trabajo.

mortijo (12238) 2006-03-02 7:45

Excellent shot with nice, soft colors. I admire your courage for getting out of bed so early.

daverey (555) 2007-07-18 1:29