There are five great glacier-capped volcanoes in Ecuador. This is Volcan Antisana (18,875 ft / 5753 m) as seen from our field research site at 15,255 ft / 4650 m on Volcan Cayambe, 35 miles to the north. It was a cold, windy morning when I made this image, with the wind chill probably in the single digits Fahrenheit (a condition hardly befitting our location less than one mile north of the equator in the middle of June), and I admit that I hemmed and hawed a long time about going outside our small mountain hut with the camera. I’m glad I did!
Those lenticular clouds over Antisana hinted at really strong winds blowing up the Andean slope from the Amazon Basin, winds that often suggest a downturn in the weather. Sure enough, we spent much of the next week in a mixture of rain, fog, sleet and snow. Good for photography, but terrible for science!
Specific Feedback Requested
Anything that would make this image even better. Post-processing in monochrome space is definitely a different skill set.
Technical Details
Sony A7RIII with Tamron 150-500 mm f/5-6.7 at 418 mm; ISO 100, f/6.3, 1/1000th sec.
Processed in LrC and PS, with sharpening and noise reduction using Topaz AI tools.
1 Like
Wow! Those clouds are amazing! My first impression is to admire the drama, but then I wonder if the contrast is a bit high. I’d love to see a comparison with the darks lifted a bit. Maybe a bit more space above the top cloud, too.
Looking over the cloud deck makes me feel like I’m flying. Glider pilots love conditions like that but you need a heated space suit.
Wow is right! This is an incredible view. I love the lenticular clouds over the mountain, combined with your perspective of being above the clouds all the way from the foreground to the mountain. Beautiful image!
The mix of above the main cloud deck, rugged peak, and lenticular clouds looks great, Jeff. While it may or may not be an improvement, I’d try some dodging of the cloud tops in the lower right to add more to the lower right to upper left eye movement.
Hi Jeff, Wow!
Those are some dramatic conditions. I like all the elements in your image. The soft clouds in the foreground, the thin clouds brushing in front of the mountain, and the lenticular clouds. Because the light was so dramatic I find my eye doesn’t have any place to rest and it keeps moving around the image randomly. I did a rough edit in LR to even out the tones and draw more attention to the mountain. For the soft clouds in the foreground I darkened the right side and brightened the left. I also darkened the bright spot on the left and the cloud just above the mountain. For me the main focal point is the mountain. I made the edits to bring more focus to it, but you might have had a different goal. Fantastic image. Definitely worth the effort. Wish I was there to see it.
Very cool collection of lenticular clouds. These are very common on mountaintops. But they are really amazing. Good job with the black-and-white.
