bout this image

Taken in the extremely dry year of 2002 over Independence Day weekend, this is my only shot to date that I consider to have magic light, and oh was it ever impressive. A brief thunderstorm had just passed, and just a bit later, the sun found its way through a slot near the western horizon and lit up all of the previously gray clouds into something almost otherworldly, which bathed the whole area in an intense beautiful golden light. Taken from one of my favorite campsites, I scrambled to get my camera and set it up on the tripod. I ran a hundred feet or so out into the open field with an open view of Mt. Sneffels (just off-frame to the right) and this sub-peak of Cirque Mountain that you see here. Probably 30 seconds or so prior to this, the cloud that you see rolling over the saddle in the middle was almost white, which looked like milk or cotton spilling down. I really, really wish I would've gotten set up quicker, but I'll still take it. The colors as shown here are as close as I remember the scene to have looked like; the difference being the light doesn't envelop you around the monitor to give you a truer sense of the moment.

<< previous | index | next >>