You can’t go wrong when photographing mountain peaks during sunset. The greatest challenge is to know where to point your camera—let mother nature do the rest. But seriously, when the sun is that low, the light changes so rapidly that you can easily get caught off-guard, and you may end up losing the proverbial golden opportunity. That didn’t happen to photographer Remy Zanotto, who got the chance to photograph the Crested Butte mountain in Colorado during sunset and wound up with an absolutely breathtaking image:
“Crested Butte During Magical Sunset” by Remy Zanotto (Via Reddit. Click image to see full size.)
Zanotto took the image on a Canon 6D Mark II with an 85 mm f/1.8 lens at f/1.8, 1/160 seconds and ISO 100. The most striking feature of this image has to be the fact how most of the elements fit in the orange monochromatic style. This gives a calm, soothing and vibrant look to the overall image.
Compositionally, too, Zanotto has done beautiful work with the photo. The landscape with the bushes and the beautiful autumn trees work as a foreground leading to the Crested Butte in the midground. Then there’s the magical sky with golden clouds hovering around the mountain that works as a compelling background.
The image is also a good example of why it can be a good idea sometimes to do away with the rule of thirds. Zanotto has done great justice to the majestic Crested Butte by placing it dead center. This way, the mountain gets the right amount of attention that it deserves.
Do you ever get tired of looking at sunset photographs?
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It’s a gorgeous photograph. Unfortunately, with advanced sky replacement software readily available, one will always wonder if such a sky was in the original capture or was an addition from a photograph taken in a different place and time. I’m sure this sky is authentic, but this question will from now on be part of any such glorious sky photo.