Although usually don't say this, viewing full size on black is 100% necessary! Do it! I spent 7 days in this specific area searching for compositions and waiting for decent conditions. On the upside it's autumn in S. America so waking up at 6AM and still catching twilight was a complete luxury. The downside was that there are constantly new weather systems that move across and sit over the Andes Range so getting clear skies, or great light in general can require a wait. There are so many compositions to explore up this river valley alone including the glacial lake which sits directly under the glacier you can see in the top middle of the photo. After making my way up into this section of the river I didn't see anyone for 3 days straight, although there are so very popular hikes that intersect this location just 3 miles down the trail. All and all this is one of my favorite shots I came back with. The photo comes from two RAW files both of the exact same composition. The first was taken for the stars at the very end of twilight. I didn't want the stars to dominate the scene, but I few were required for the "twilight feel". The second was focused for hyper focal near the location where the big tree comes out of the ground. Exposing for the mountains ( The Fitz Roy Group ) only it was possible to keep the exposure time around 1/5th of a second to provide the water texture seen in the photo. Both files were hand blended together with the help of luminosity channels and Photoshop blend modes. After that basic color and and luminance adjustments were made selectively and globally. Hopefully you enjoy & thanks for looking, Dave
Pinnacle of Light - Patagonia, Argentina
