By Lionel Mawhinney. Taken during a sunset whilst a top the Stirling Range Ridge in the south west of Western Australia.
Stirling Range
By Lionel Mawhinney
Nikon D5600; 18-140mm lens
Taken during a sunset whilst a top the Stirling Range Ridge in the south west of Western Australia.
Don’s response
This is a time-honoured technique for landscape shooters. And rightly so.
To work well, as this study from Lionel Mawhinney does so beautifully, it really helps to have the sun low in the sky and the angle of view slightly off a direct contre-jour (ie: angled to the WNW or WSW in the southern hemisphere).
The almost panoramic aspect ratio is just right for the long, serried ranks of the ridgelines.
I like the way the image gradations step from the deeply shadowed foreground through a succession of delicate, slightly lighter tonal values until our eye arrives at that distant peak, standing out against the nearly white sky.
As a lifelong devotee of black and white landscape, I’d love to see how this would scrub up in mono.
