Cotopaxi is cheating! Photo

Photographer’s Note

hard to believe that the Cotopaxi volcano is more than 5800m (about 19,300 feet) high and was happily throwing snow and hale at us just a week before this particular photo was taken. I'm sure it was trying to impress that it has one of the few equatorial glaciers in the world - you can see the snow cap that starts at the height of 5,000 metres. but in this photo we had obviously caught the mountain off guard and it was hastily wrapping in clouds.

Cotopaxi has an almost symmetrical cone that rises from a highland plain of about 3,800 metres with a width at its base of about 23 kilometres. Cotopaxi is one of the highest active volcanoes in the world, and there have been more than 50 eruptions since 1738. the 1877 eruption melted snow and ice on the summit, which produced mudflows that traveled 60 miles (100 km) from the volcano. the most recent eruption of Cotopaxi ended in 1904, but there was an increase in steam emissions, melting snow, and small earthquakes in 1975-1976. we were told that Cotopaxi is getting active again, and the clouds trapped in the valeys certainly look like steam rising from the side of the mountain. that's cheating!

loosely translated from the Quechua, Cotopaxi means "Smooth Neck of the Moon".

similar photo by zmey is included among the featured photos taken in Ecuador on www.travellerspoint.com

pastadog, Paophi, zmey, Buin, scobert, vero07, dlevy23, Floydian, jorgi, flashpoint, fulvio52, JorgeCK, pasternak, jvsb, sonkai, Wandering_Dan, COSTANTINO has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

pastadog (12821) 2008-01-18 5:06

Hi Kristine - Very pretty compo, in two distinct sides, the mighty cloud makes the volcano look relatively small... I had no luck with Cotopaxi (and also with Tungurahua) during my visit there, always hidden by clouds and fog, so thanks for sharing this one really! Daniel

zmey (7250) 2008-01-18 6:40

well, our effort on the last "day with wheels" in ecuador paid off nicely. cotopaxi was kind, lol. for a fraction of a moment :) oh well, we got to go back in july/august.

nice composition. i like it. you have left more space for the "fake smoke" whereas mine is more centered on the mountain.

TFS
kristaps

Buin (37736) 2008-01-18 7:13

Hallo Kristine!
A very impressive picture of this grand mountain! I like the fascinating buildup of this photo! These threatening clouds are nearly breathtaking. You show us a really gorgeous scenery!
Greetings from Germany - and have a nice weekend!
Frank

scobert (5333) 2008-01-18 7:47

Hello Kristine,
This is a fantastic shot! The storm clouds on the right and the clouds moving over the volcano are incredible! You are a first-rate photographer and I need to visit your photo gallery more often. Your note writing is excellent also and I believe notes to be as important as our images themselves. The perspective you have here is most unusual and fascinating to view. Great work!
Stan

vero07 (1747) 2008-01-18 8:00

Hi Kristine,
Nice landscape with this wonderful cloud and beautiful blue sky also.
Thanks for your useful information and TFS.
Regards.

AandK (1795) 2008-01-18 8:09

How jealous I am... I never got the chance to see Cotopaxi from that close without clouds. This year I got the chance to see some snow through the thick clouds but just for a minute or two. From Quito I saw it clear, but standing right infront of it is way more impressive!
TFS
Andreas

dlevy23 (2018) 2008-01-18 8:21

Hi Kristine, what a great photo. Such an amazing cloud, it is so big and it seems to be coming from the side of the volcano.
Nice composition and colors.
Good job

Daniel

brandstaetter (14158) 2008-01-18 9:14

Hi Kristine,
what a great cloud kissing the volcano :)
excellent light and sharpness,
cheers Christian

romanaa (2551) 2008-01-18 12:01

Hello Kristine,
fantastic shot, it seems to me that is the cloud is attacking the mountain.
Great composition and sharpness.
Bravo.
Best wishes
Romana

jorgi (3798) 2008-01-19 1:01

Hi Kristine,

this vulcano definitely does not look 5800 high. It is literally swallowed by these enormous clouds. Great dynamics in capture with excellent natural colours.

Kind regards,
Jeri

Greg1949 (8507) 2008-01-19 3:53

Awesome, great capture.

Greg

Floydian (30970) 2008-01-19 5:08

Hello Kristine,
A famous mountain presented in a very good framing. It's not easy to make a picture without clouds. I stood a half day at 4800 meter, less than 15 min a blue sky with some sunshine. Clouds were moving very fast, a kind of flow we see here in your image. Here the two opposute clouds moving away from each other is a remarkable detail. Looks like the clouds are coming out of the vulcano...amazing.
I have a view from Quito on the Cotopaxi, will post that one the coming weeks...
Have a nice weekend, Henk

vincz (19043) 2008-01-20 2:27

Beautiful catch of this volcano with the so fantastic cloud. I love the rendering on the big cloud. Excellent picture.

fulvio52 (8314) 2008-01-20 3:33

Hi Kristine,
no doubt whatsoever, you made the best possible use of this dramatic scenery. Perfect build-up : low POV, the mighty volcano being exactly where it should be, blue skies in mid & top left-half and those awesome cloud formations in mid & top right-half, stretching all the way up towards the onlooker to create outstanding depth of field.
Top-notch!
Cheers,
Fulvio.

tsotsito (243) 2008-01-20 11:04

very impressive picture.. Great composition and sharpness....

JorgeCK (2596) 2008-01-22 12:12

Hi Kristine,
Wonderful landscape scene. The colors of the sky, the clouds, the sun rays brighting the snow cone are beautiful.
Congratulations
joRge

pasternak (13388) 2008-01-25 2:49

Very well framed, Kristine, the volcano looks quite small under this huge cloud... The shadows are a bit dark but maybe this is my monitor...

Cheers
Alexander

jvsb (1360) 2008-01-26 4:30

Hi Kristine,
Great capture of this elusive volcano. The dialogue with Floydian is very helpful in that it reminds us of the difficult circumstances involving landscape photography abroad.The framing of the volcano and the water vapor is well balanced, but maybe a wider take from a pov almost beneath the clouds would give an even more impressive picture. I wasn’t there, so I can’t be sure. I wouldn’t mind brightening just a bit the FG in post-processing too.
TFS,
Victor

sonkai (1017) 2008-02-09 10:35

Hi Kristine.
Uhmmm...I watch and I re-watch this shot,and besides to admire the Cotopaxi volcano covered with snow and clouds I asked myself;the enormous and dark clould at right..,is it falling down?I think there's nothing more to turn into fog...:)This is an impressive atmospheric show.TFS.
Un saludo.

Wandering_Dan (3237) 2008-05-13 8:55

Hi, Kristine -

Cotopaxi not only cheats, it plays rough. The day we went to the mountain, the summit was covered in clouds worse than this. We were heading back to Quito and I turned around to look in the rear view window - not a cloud in sight! Arrghhhh!

So you got a great shot here. The clouds on the right add menace but don't hide the mountain at all. And you do have a touch of the summit visible. Plus the use of minimalist elements works well. You caught the mountain off guard, all right!

Best,
Dan

arturo (31) 2008-06-02 7:08

Hi Kristine,

a grippin spectacle...and a lovely catch;-)...I like it a lot...cheers, arturo

plimrn (19674) 2008-06-16 19:46

Hi Kristine,
I can't believe I missed this stunning photo. I don't believe I've ever seen such stunning cloud detail in such a voluptuos cloud, The snowy top peeking out from its lenticular cap and the strong contrat between the white clouds and that perfect blue of the sky. To my favs,
HLJ, Pat

jmdias (19327) 2008-06-26 17:50

kristine

beautiful the way this huge cloud facing the huge volcano. The minimalist image is fantastic with the empty field in the lower area.

nice work

hugs

jorge

Angshu (33697) 2008-07-09 1:15

Hello Kristine
Going a bit back in your album for this picture of the famous volcano. Framing is fine off-centre. Clouds are always a bane in high altitude mountains as I learnt first hand in my latest trip. The clouds always hugs the cold surface & more where there's snow. The one on the right looks like a plume gushing out of the crater. But still we see some snow & some blue sky, which makes it rewarding to the photographer. A fine work Kristine & I enjoy seeing your posts from Ecuador.
Regards
Angshuman

COSTANTINO (22747) 2008-11-13 12:31

Hi Kristine,
thanks for your useful notes about thsi vulcano..A very impressive picture of this
vulcano,shot well taken and well seen
This is a marvellous picture,original version
that sharing with us the lovely landscape
Costantino

totoamoto (2262) 2009-02-03 23:35

Salut Kristine..
J'en profite pour visiter ta galerie que je trouve superbe.
Et je trouve ces photos d'équateur qui me rappelle de bons souvenirs...
Ici au Cotopaxi.. J'y suis allé et c'est un endroit magnifique.. J'ai une ou deux photo que je devrais postées...
Cyril

Paul57 (1635) 2009-08-06 9:55

Hi Kristine,
Another great picture. Fantastic POV and impressive enveloping clouds. You have just revived old souvenirs of my 1991 trip to this gorgeous Andean country. TFS.
Regards,
Paul