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Behind the Camera: Mount Redoubt
It is about the close of another month, and that means it is time for another spotlight on one of my own photographs. If you have been keeping track of Photo Trek this month, you have undoubtedly noticed that I have not been on any Treks lately. That means there are no new pictures to choose from for this feature, so I will go back to my Alaska Trek from May and select another one of those pictures to highlight.
Mount Redoubt
Often in photography, it is the dichotomy of a scene that really draws a viewer into the image. The visual interest and tension that is provided from this one compositional technique forces the viewer to really "look" into the photograph, as opposed to just simply looking "at" it. It is this element of dichotomy that really drew my eyes to this particular scene which was found on the road trip to Homer, AK, from our base in Seward, AK.
Mount Redoubt was photographed from a pretty standard overlook along the highway. There was no hiking involved to get to this viewpoint. In fact, there was a very nice gravel turnout on the side of the road where many cars stop on a regular basis. The view is very broad, and takes in five different active volcanoes in this section of South Central Alaska. However, it was not so much the distant volcanoes that caught my eye, it was the appearance of the landscape right at the overlook that excited me. At this point in May, winter had just ended and the vegetation had not quite returned to a green and living state. There was more brown tones in the landscape than green.
So, why did the still dormant landscape captured my imagination? Simple...it provided a wonderful complementing element to the blue sky, and the trademark blue/green of the Alaskan waters. The trick was to make everything work together to form a cohesive composition. The overlook itself was typical of an overlook in that it was situated in a clearing. A straight on shot would just provide water, volcano, and sky. This was not what I wanted. However, on both sides of the overlook there were plateaus which showcased the warm earth tones I needed so bad. I found the perfect location to set up on the far left of the overlook. There were actually several different composition that worked here.
Lens choice was a big issue with the scene in front of me. Too wide of a focal length would shrink the volcano in the distant background, and too long of one would not allow me to capture the warm foreground that I so desperately wanted in the photograph. With all of that in mind, I pulled out my 24-70mm f/2.8L which I thought would give me the perfect range of options for how I wanted to capture the scene. As I framed some different compositions, I could tell that my choice was right on the money. Everything appeared like I wanted. The only thing left to do was to find the right compositions and let the shutter go.
The time of day was not the best for photography with the sun pretty high in the sky. It was not the ideal time for the use of a polarizer, but I wanted to remove the surface reflections from the water to really amplify the blue/green color. As it turned out, the sky also benefited a little bit from this filter as well. I really like the way that the colors turned out in this photograph. There is a very good balance in colors, tones, and depth.
Back to dichotomy as a compositional technique. It actually plays out in several ways in this picture. The first and most obvious is the fact that Mt Redoubt in the distance is covered in snow, while the foreground landscape has all melted, and there are signs that life will be returning soon. Dichotomy also plays out in the distances used. There is detail to be viewed both near and far which makes the eyes travel through the photograph, and back again. There is even detail in the distant sky with the single line of clouds. The best use of dichotomy in this image is likely the use of color temperature. There are extreme cool temperatures with the blues and warmer temperatures with the browns and greens. This dichotomy illustrates the transition in seasons, and gives the viewer a visual clue to the mood of the image.
So what is the mood of the image? How do I view it? Well, this is more a visual piece than one where I am really trying to tell a story. Sometimes the beauty of a scene is the story. Every time I look at this picture, I feel relaxed...almost immediately. There is a harmony to this picture where everything works together as one. There is no uncertainty here, nothing left to the imagination. It is what it is. It is a picture that I can look at for hours, minutes, or seconds, and I still get the same feeling the next time I look at it. That is the beauty of this image...it is always fresh.
You can view Mount Redoubt and the other Alaska photographs in my Travel Room. Remember, if you would like to learn more about one of my pictures just send me an email.
Written by Greg A. Kiser
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Beautiful shot and as you say, very relaxing feel as well. Great explanation of how everything came together.
Lisa -
Love the top photo, lovely color.....nice contrast between the foreground & background~
Marie -
As you said, the warm earth tones are needed there so the photo doesn't come out looking to cold and icy. I like the trees too, Mother Nature always knows exactly where to place everything! A great shot. Jeannette xx
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Love the shot. Makes me want to travel again.
Julie
7/27/08 10:18 PM
gina