The Ruby Range Reflected in Lake Irwin

Ruby Mountain MajestyThe Ruby Range appears as a mirror image in Lake Irwin on a summer morning near Crested Butte, Colorado.

This image holds a very special place in my heart and memory. I spent some part of nearly 10 summers camped just beyond that large rock on the far side of the lake. I grew up exploring the waterline and hiking the mountains in the distance. Those memories play a huge role in why I moved to Crested Butte nearly 40 years ago.

Finding and capturing this scene took years of trial and error and a bit of science. The lake only turns into a mirror after the mountains are in full sun. It happens between the time upslope breezes shift to downslope breezes, leaving the lake perfectly calm for about 15 minutes. I had been here many wrong times before I made this discovery. 

But today I want to write about moving from what the camera captures to what my mind saw and felt. I want to write a bit about processing the RAW image. Just a warning, the image below is not the RAW of the photo above, but of the following image with slightly different composition and, sadly, ripples in the lake.

Ruby Mountain Majesty RAW

First, let me share some details. This photograph was made with a Nikon D800 with a Nikon 24-120mm f4 lens about 9 years ago. The camera has been upgraded, but the lens is still my go-to lens that lives on the camera. The exposure was ISO 100, F11, 1/30second. Most of my landscapes are made with the camera on a Really Right Stuff tripod with their ball-head used to attach the camera.

As you can see, there's a big difference between the lower RAW image captured by the camera and the finished photograph. RAW capture leaves the file virtually unprocessed with only a few initial settings applied. This type of capture provides the broadest range of adjustments and interpretations to the original file. 

I always begin my image processing using Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) software. My first step is to apply corrections for the lens to the file. ACR has profiles for lenses stored, so it's easy to apply these corrections, which fix any lens distortions. I also apply some of my own preferences for file adjustments. These include a bit of Clarity addition, some Vibrance and a little Saturation is also added. 

At this point, I like to do an initial adjustment to exposure, which opened up the shadow areas and darkened the highlights of the peaks and sky. Once that change gets me into the ballpark, I make color adjustments. The RAW defaults are much too cool for my liking and the time of day this image was captured, so I started by changing the color temperature to a warmer 6700 degrees and adding a bit of magenta tint to make it look like a scene with morning light. These changes in exposure and color got me most of the way to my finished image. The remainder is some fine-tuning.

I darkened the blue in the sky for a bit more contrast with the clouds. I lightened the blacks a bit, which also helps show detail in the shadow areas. I used an Ansel Adams technique, adding a bit of a vignette to darken the edges and corners slightly. This helps keep the viewer's eye in the photo and draws attention to the middle of the photo. Once I get to this point, I'm ready to look at individual pixels and apply sharpening and noise reduction if necessary. I also go through the sky looking for dust spots I'll have to remove.

This may seem like a lot of work to get to a finished product. It actually is. I will take breaks, save the file, and come back with fresh eyes several times before ever sending a file to the printer or even to Facebook. Sometimes, like with this image, those breaks may take years.

That's how I got to the finished version of "The Ruby Range Reflected in Lake Irwin". Thanks for coming along for the ride, since I rarely write about the technical process. You've been most patient if you've made it this far!