New on 500px : Sun Rainbow at Mono by celsomollo by celsomollo

An incredible struck of luck in the last day in California after a 5 day cloudless sky.

*** PLEASE SEE ON BLACK.

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New on 500px : Looking Forever by MAPhoto by MAPhoto

This is Torres Del Paine and the Paine Grande Peaks at sunrise. My friend, world-class photographer, naturalist, writer, phd scientist, super-hiker extraordinaire and all around amazing person Floris Van Breugel takes a look at the grand surroundings on a magical morning. He had no idea he’d wandered into my shot…..

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500px Editors’ Choice : Cool the Flames by MAPhoto

Recently, on a 4-week long winter trip to Patagonian Argentina and Chile, I found icebergs stemming from some of the region’s largest glaciers to be a major interest, among other things. I photographed these sometimes house-sized chunks of crystal ice from above and below, and even at this point launched a pack-raft I carried 25 miles backpacking for the purposes of accessing and photographing some remote waters (not technically legal, unless your vessel meets their algae-free specifications). In the background of this image high peaks rise nearly 10,000ft from Lago Grey and in the foreground is that amazing clear ice reflecting a beautiful sunrise. To get the shot was very tricky, having no good way to anchor to the berg, floating along side it, it took many passes to get it right. It was eventually captured in a single exposure with a 24mm lens.

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New on 500px : Above the Cold by MAPhoto by MAPhoto

A moment of dramatic light above this remote lakeshore we camped at for a few days in the Torres Del Paine region of southern Chile. The conditions were extremely windy and cold all day, blowing the snow from the peaks in the background of this image. Below, a multitude of almost unbelievably blue icebergs fill the lake, breaking up the waves. The largest of the bergs in this photo is as tall as a 7-story building! I took the shot from a place far from the trails on a secluded cove about 25 meters above the water.

The light Paine is exceptional in late fall and winter, and dramatic conditions can be expected. In winter the sun is so low that you are very nearly shooting sunrise or sunset the whole day (which starts at 10am). At one point we observed 14 out of 15 consecutive sunrises and sunsets that were this good, probably my lifetime record, and a photographer’s dream! The challenge is, like always, also where the most excitement is. It’s about getting off the beaten path and seeing unique places, making images that are yours. I will NEVER forget this trip to this remote shore. We nicknamed it iceberg bay (obviously).

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New on 500px : Triumph by MAPhoto by MAPhoto

This image is a personal favorite of mine, taken in the Patagonian winter recently. For me, it marked a personal triumph and communication with this mountain, one I have long held as the pinnacle of peaks on earth that I have seen. On this evening, it felt as though the mountain itself had won its freedom from the clouds. This magnificent, vertically improbable spire of Cerro Torre rises 7000 vertical feet from the glaciers below and as it cleared on this evening it was so beautiful and ghostly in its power, emerging from its veil of clouds, it was all I could do to remember to keep shooting.

I have captured this peak before but although the images were nice, I felt they were too commonplace in comparison to what I’d seen previously. Winter allowed me a unique perspective, with the waters of this glacial river being clear and 1/10 the volume of the muddy spring through autumn flows. The peak is very far away so I found it necessary to shoot with a mid-range length here, something between 55 and 70mm. I did a minor focus stack for DOF. Otherwise, the exposure was 4 seconds, which captured a little wind motion in the sky since it was blowing like crazy on this evening.

After 3 nights and 4 days of waiting in this area for this giant to emerge, and nearly giving up on it, the evening of this capture went from snowfall to intense windstorm to completely clear in less than 1 hour! A large view of this image reveals spindrift avalanches swirling down the cliff faces distant. I shot continuously, managing at this point to capture a fleeting second when the mountain stood alone. I hope you enjoy it and it does something to convey what was a very memorable experience.

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New on 500px : Catching the Sun by MAPhoto by MAPhoto

This next image from Patagonia, made this winter (June), depicts a remote lakeshore and a tiny wind-shaped tree I fell in love with. I was attracted to how the light of sunset came through the enormous peaks in the distance and illuminated its rocky perch, creating a warm/cool contrast with the snowy peaks. In order to make the perspective I wanted and pull the peaks together into the scene I used a stitch of 2 14mm images, both exposed for the highlights. Using a D800E I was able to easily control all of the lighting here otherwise without exposure blending. My favorite moment was obviously here, when the sun’s reflection created an additional little sparkle on the water.

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New on 500px : Cool the Flames by MAPhoto by MAPhoto

Recently, on a 4-week long winter trip to Patagonian Argentina and Chile, I found icebergs stemming from some of the region’s largest glaciers to be a major interest, among other things. I photographed these sometimes house-sized chunks of crystal ice from above and below, and even at this point launched a pack-raft I carried 25 miles backpacking for the purposes of accessing and photographing some remote waters (not technically legal, unless your vessel meets their algae-free specifications). In the background of this image high peaks rise nearly 10,000ft from Lago Grey and in the foreground is that amazing clear ice reflecting a beautiful sunrise. To get the shot was very tricky, having no good way to anchor to the berg, floating along side it, it took many passes to get it right. It was eventually captured in a single exposure with a 24mm lens.

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New on 500px : Owens River Amazing Colours by celsomollo by celsomollo

I had to re process this picture to ad some more depth, I hope you like it.

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New on 500px : Sunbeam Falls by MAPhoto by MAPhoto

An image I made in summer of 2011. One more green shot before heading off to Patagonia this winter 🙂

Never got to share this here yet. You can find these beams catching the mist in the air from the falls almost any clear summer day at these falls, but capturing them is quite another matter. Rarely have I gotten my camera so wet!

This is a single 14mm exposure primarily, with a bit of blending around the sun area and for water spots and wind motion.

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New on 500px : Glow Cave by MAPhoto by MAPhoto

I have been working on this image for a long while now. About 6 years, actually, I have figured this must be possible. Last year, I even posted an image from here but ultimately wasn’t happy with it. This year, I am still not 100% happy with it but I think I’ll have to concede this was my best effort.

What you are looking at here is a 180-degree field of view. It is a 1 second exposure where I managed to get some nice splash action as well as some water streaking thanks to the splashes occurring in darker areas and showing up well.

To take the shot, I am wedged up against a giant rock and cannot do anything more than hand-hold my tripod against it, dangling off the top. I am getting splashed big-time every third wave, to the extent that Nikon just repaired my salt-water damaged LCD last week. I am shooting 2 shots down for water action and rock details followed by 1 shot up to include the entire background rock stack and another 2 shots further up for sunset light and more interior details. I need to take the whole setup down off the rock every 3 shots because I’m getting splashed and put fresh water onto the lens element to wash the salt off, because flare will kill almost everything in this lighting condition because of that salty film on one’s lens. I cannot actually reach the front of my lens though, so…… After a repeat of this process through the course of an hour, I have about 20 sets of 5 shots to put together.

To stitch a 180-degree 14mm blend plus exposure blends I put all the details together around the periphery first. I need to manually use warps to get them as close as I can to aligning so I am in control of perspective, not a program. For this reason alone, no 14mm stitches are ever going to look the same, but it does do a realistic job of portraying the actual shape the cave here. After stitching the periphery by hand, I then warp the sky to fit also, and paint it in. I then follow it up with some of those luscious glowy effects (accentuated by sea spray that was already on my lens) that are so in vogue today, and there it is.

All and all, I think the shot is good, maybe worth the effort (about 2 hours in PS) but ultimately lacks some of the depth of my best coastal work. At issue is the lack of mid-ground transition to the background elements. It all feels very ‘near’ to me, as everything is within 15ft of my lens. Ah well….figured I’d share it anyway. Thanks for your thoughts.

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