kurt765
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This is a scene that I had long sought to photograph, but conditions were never right. And then in the summer of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, in the midst of immense smoke from terrible fires, I found these trees like this. It is for me an imperfect photo during imperfect times. On this trip I endeavored to not set foot inside a single building, which I succeeded. I stayed away from other people entirely. But also the intense smoke made shooting difficult. The air quality index near where I pulled over was over 800. Between 151 and 200 is considered unhealthy. 301 and higher is hazardous. This was nearly triple the hazardous level. So the mere act of getting outside the car was oppressive within the smoke affected areas, the main source of which was the “Camp Fire” which was an incredibly explosive fire in the central Sierra Nevada. So I pulled over and tried with haste to find a composition. Then I climbed up on top of my Xterra with my camera and tripod and shot this pano. There’s one thing I’m not happy about, and perhaps it will bother you as well, you’ll have to tell me. But with a smokey mind this is what I came up with before retreating to the relative clear air inside my car. I have not before and so far not since encountered this stand of aspens so perfectly colored. The smoke diffused light further enhanced the warmth, as the whole of the landscape was bathed in apocalypse tint by the sun filtering through the smoke which originated many 10’s of miles away. Tell me what you think, as I have long debated posting this image.
Smoked Aspens
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