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Cloud Dance

Posted by
Darkelf Photography (Perth, Australia) on 14 March 2017 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.

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A late addition to my favourite photos of 2016 - lenticular cloud hovering over Tongariro National Park and Mount Ruapehu in New Zealand. This is a panorama put together from six vertical frames.

You might have seen the other photos of this cloud that I posted but this is my definite favourite form the day, if not from the entire trip. We chased this cloud around the area for a while, trying to find a good composition for the photo that I envisioned. I was looking for the setting sun to illuminate the cloud and the top of the volcano, as well as to give a nice golden glow to the grasses below. Finding a good foreground was the key I think. We did a number of drives around before finally settling on this spot.

I am glad that we found it with plenty of time before the sunset and I took a number of shots trying to find the right balance. Single frames just did not work for me for some reason. There was either too much sky or too much foreground or the composition just felt too tight and I was not getting the feeling of space that I wanted. In the end going with a panorama allowed me to resolve these issues.

It was also a matter of patience to wait for the right light to shine on the three main elements at the right moment. I did not want the cloud to be blown out, for the grasses to be too dark and I wanted a little bit of life on the mountain as well. I used a polarising filter for this scene to accentuate to contrast between the sky and the cloud and it also gave the cloud a bit of a 3d look and depth by deepening the shadows just a touch.

I felt really happy when I finished the final edit of this scene and saw the result. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :-)

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 1/5 second F/16.0 ISO 200 50 mm

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Paysages by Dany

Wild Wide World by Anna Cherer

Nature 2017 by Libouton Martine