This shot was taken a couple months ago, but I haven't had a chance to edit it until now due to my colour calibration troubles....Anyways...
Decomposing plant matter at the bottom of Abraham Lake in Alberta releases methane gas. Once winter hits it get trapped forming amazing bubble stacks and layers. I visited a bit late in the season, so the vast majority of the ice was cloudy due to temperature changes. I had scouted bubbles the day before, and then miraculously found my little patch just in time to set up for sunrise after a mad kilometre sprint over clear ice and black bottom. I'll definitely be back next year in the bitterness of winter for the glassy untouched surface though.
Yes, a wonderful natural phenomenon. Unlike the other three people to post before me here, I have seen many photos of the bubbles on this lake (for example), but never with what looks like water ripples lapping up over the ice. I love that juxtaposition of textures. You say you haven't had a chance to process this photo yet, so maybe you aren't looking for thoughts on that part of it...I would just suggest bringing the highlights of the sky and the shadows of the mountain into better balance, but perhaps you already have that much in mind. Oh, and I also really like how the reflections of light wrap around the mountain and approach us from both sides. Very well composed.
Dougo wrote:
I have never seen anything like this, an amazing shot, even an abstract version of the bottom half would be cool.
Cheers Ray
I took a few very closeup shots of the ice bubbles and cracks using my wide angle, however the light was harsh and I didnt have a polarizer at the time, so the milky surface was overly visible. Im still debating if I should post them or not, mainly because I am a very picky and not totally happy with them. Thanks for the compliment!
Phrasikleia wrote:
Yes, a wonderful natural phenomenon. Unlike the other three people to post before me here, I have seen many photos of the bubbles on this lake (for example), but never with what looks like water ripples lapping up over the ice. I love that juxtaposition of textures. You say you haven't had a chance to process this photo yet, so maybe you aren't looking for thoughts on that part of it...I would just suggest bringing the highlights of the sky and the shadows of the mountain into better balance, but perhaps you already have that much in mind. Oh, and I also really like how the reflections of light wrap around the mountain and approach us from both sides. Very well composed....Show more →
Thanks for the compliments. I had actually taken a large verticle pano, but decided on this crop for compositional purposes.
And I meant I havent processed the image until now haha. This definitely has a bunch of processing time into it, but mostly because Im not well versed with photoshop just yet. By balancing the sky and shadows I dont know which way you mean to balance them. For the most part, everything except the brightest sky and darkest shadows are from a single exposure though. The early light kept everything pretty even in exposure.
Just curious, can you bring down the luminosity in the highlights a little more (were they clipping?) It is just my opinion but mellowing out the highlights with a tad more color in them might work well here.
