Reflecting at Mt. Shasta - Image Breakdown

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Photography is the subtle science and the exact art of understanding light. Understanding it, shaping it and cajoling it to show your viewer a story that only you have envisioned. Landscape photographers paint with light and enjoy chasing it. We wake up at ungodly hours and hike with heavy loads under rain, sun and snow to make sure that we are at our chosen spot, sometimes hours before when we know the “right light” would grace the scene. And all this in pursuit of that one single image that will make the viewer say “wow!”.

This is not such an image. This spot was pretty easy to get to. I drove up to this lake from my motel which was all of 10 minutes away. But still.

This image was captured originally as a much larger vista. It was a 3-shot vertical panorama taken on the Canon500D with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS lens at 30mm, 1/10 secs, f/16, ISO 100. The final composition is a crop of the original pano.

Hot Air Balloon over the Masai Mara - Image Breakdown

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One of the best experiences while on safari in Kenya is an early morning hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara. You wake up early, well before the sun rises, and the wind chill freezes your ears while you drive out an hour and more to the middle of an open grassland. And then you see them. Magnificent, towering canopies of nylon being blast filled with hot air. You load back-first into the sturdy basket attached to one of these colourful balloons and it starts climbing. Higher and higher you soar as the sun starts rising over the Mara, warming everything that its rays touch. Quieter and quieter it gets, till its just you and the landscape.

Canon 500D and Canon EF 70-300mm IS USM lens at 70mm, 1/320 secs, f/8, ISO 800.

Mt. Rundle over Vermillion Lakes - Image Breakdown

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The whole of Banff National Park and surrounding areas is dotted with splendid little lakes that pair with the Canadian Rockies to offer picture-postcard vistas. This is Mt. Rundle reflected in Vermillion Lake as viewed from an easily accessible spot just a few minutes drive from the center of Banff town. I had done quite a bit of research online about the access to and views from this lake, but seeing it all in person took my breath away. I spent a good hour or more here as the sun slowly set one autumn day and the wind chill made me pull on layer after layer of warm wear.

Canon 6DMarkII and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens at 24mm, f/14, 13 secs, ISO 100.

Sunset at Milford Sound - Image Breakdown

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This image was born of a repeat visit. I’d first visited this location one evening when staying overnight at Milford Sound. The journey here is an adventure in itself, being two hours away from the closest town and having to cross a mountain pass along the way. The first evening there, the sky decided to play spoil sport and the scene was quite flat. That meant waking up early the next morning and braving the bitter cold to try again. And oh man did the sky deliver this time! Insane clouds and magnificent colours! I'm glad I didn't sleep in.

Canon 500D and Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens at 15mm, f/16, 45 sec, ISO 100