The light just became too incredible for me to just shoot as I drove so I finally pulled over. I found a spot, not the safest, to pull the truck over and parked in a snow bank. Our local sheriff went by and just waved, you could say my truck is known around here (that’s another story and not what you think). I had driven all the way from Reno with the D3x in the seat next to me so I just threw the truck into park and ran out.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP6724.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
These are Mono Cones, three extinct volcanoes that are just south of Mono Lake. It’s said that a geologist saw steam coming from the middle one in 1924. The drama in the clouds over the cones just got better and better. I didn’t have time to do it right in camera but knew I could finish the photo in post. Other than the B&W process, I used Nik Color Efex Pro Split grad to darken the top 1/3 of the photo.
[swf]http://www.moosepeterson.com/swf_imgs/_BMP6730.swf, 585, 444 [/swf]
Turning to the west, the light over Bloody Canyon was spectacular! That in combination with the fresh snow made the image a slam dunk with really little skill on my part. I finished the image the same way as above. You might wonder about the really blown out highlight. That’s where the sun was trying to shine through and for someone who leaves in snow country, that’s a very welcomed sign after a storm. Capturing detail in that highlight would have taken away from its meaning so I let some pixels die.
Photos captured by D3x, 24-70AFS on Lexar UDMA digital film