Sunrise over the Polychrome mountains, Denali National Park, Alaska. Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm f/4L IS, (40mm), .4 secs @ f/14, ISO 100, polarizing filter, Time 7:28 A.M.
This vista in Denali Park is a popular one, and I’ve photographed it in many phases of light and seasons. The vibrancy of the tundra colors in Alaska’s short autumn season are mesmerizing to say the least. First light happened on two out of 9 mornings and I chose to be at this location for one of them. While the entire sky was clear in the pre-dawn light, clouds began forming in the eastern sky in accordance with the rising sun. This created an unfortunate shadow over the specific region that I hoped to be lit with morning sunshine. I squeaked out a few frames before the clouds expanded.
Sunrise over the Polychrome mountains, Denali National Park, Alaska. Canon 5D Mark II, 24-105mm f/4L IS, (24mm), 1/10 sec @ f/10, ISO 100, polarizing filter, Time 8:25 A.M.
In the span of 90 minutes, I was able to get a few shots when the sun sprinkled through the thickening cloud formation. The second image was taken about an hour after the first one. It was processed as a single image in Lightroom although I shot a variety of exposures to later blend in order to retain more detail in the clouds in the left part of the frame. I used a polarizing filter in both shots.
