Smokey Morning on the Merced

Image Critiques Weekly Challenge
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Smokey Morning on the Merced
Smokey Morning on the Merced2298×1089 359 KB

Yep, you read that right. It’s not cool mist rising off the Merced winter on beautiful spring morning… NO, it’s smoke from a series of controlled burns the Park Service was conducting just 3 days before Memorial Day (last year 2021).

Doubt I would have ever posted this or the original color version in Landscape, but when I saw the challenge come up, I thought this would be the perfect chance to post this one!

I had high hopes the smoke would clear out overnight, but alas that sinking night air actually kept the smoke in and made it worse! Just after 4am I headed out for the short 10min walk to the river in hopes of catching the silhouetted Half Dome reflecting in the Merced - with stars! Those hopes immediately faded after stepping outside in to the smoke. I must say it was quite an eerie feeling walking through the smokey haze, in the dark with only the head lamp. But with disappointment, also came opportunity. I wondered what conditions might present themselves - I knew for sure that I would be substituting fog, steam and mist - with smoke from smoldering burn piles…

Despite the conditions, I had a most quiet and memorable morning. I did get my Half Dome silhouette and the sun finally came up creating some very beautiful light, so I’m glad I stepped out in to the smokey morning. This particular image was a good hour before sunrise and when the smoke was the heaviest.

thanks for looking and reading!

Lon

Specific Feedback Requested

Feedback always welcome; any and all.

Technical Details

2-image stitch. Nikon D800E, Nikon 28-300mm, iso 400 f/11 @ .5s. B&W layer using Silver Efex Pro2 (still got those old Nik plugins!)

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Lon what a deal. Yikes, Bummer, and Alright all in the same scene… :+1: That much pungent air would have had me heading for the exists… :sneezing_face:
Kinda wonder why the controlled burn was so close to the holiday. … :thinking:
Regardless, in the end this image has all the perfect low contrast quality needed for the WC theme here… :sunglasses:
btw: I doubt you would have used a high priced sheet of 4x5 here… :upside_down_face:

Lon Overacker,
still got those old Nik plugins! …ME TOO !

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Lon, this does have a fine, foggy feeling (even though it’s smoke). The long view of the river crossing the frame with the tree reflections is nicely dynamic with the bits of mountain showing through in the back setting the stage well. The three relatively high key posts now have me thinking about what it would take to get low contrast in a darker image…

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@Lon_Overacker This is really beautiful to my eye. I’m sure you were disappointed about not getting the image you envisioned, but it looks like you made the best of it and sounds like you had an enjoyable morning. I really like the depth added by the smoke. The reflections of the trees are beautiful, with just a hint of the mountains to add some mystery. I’m glad you decided to share it.