In the Field

Mid-September in the Canadian Rockies. Near Talus Lodge, BC, Canada. September 16, 2007.

Beautiful mountain-filled backdrops, brilliant yellow Alpine larch, and fire-red fireweed - what more can your eye ask for? Being in this place was simply candy for the eye. Mount Vavasour, Leman Lake and Burstall Pass in the background.

This image was shot near Talus Lodge, which is a beautiful alpine lodge located in an extremely remote section of the southern Canadian Rockies. If you're into the geology of, biology of, photography of, or any other activity associated with alpine meadows and high alpine ridges, Talus Lodge is definitely worth checking out!

Behind the Camera

Mid-September in the Canadian Rockies. Near Talus Lodge, BC, Canada. September 16, 2007.

Digital Capture; Uncompressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 100.

Nikon D2Xs with Nikon 17-55 mm f/2.8 DX G ED-IF AF-S lens @ 32 mm (48 mm equivalent with digital conversion factor) - handheld and with circular polarizing filter.

1/45s @ f9; -0.33 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Mid-September in the Canadian Rockies. Near Talus Lodge, BC, Canada. September 16, 2007.

RAW Conversion to 16 bit TIFF, including first-pass sharpening and exposure compensation using Phase One's C1 Pro. Multiple RAW conversions (2 at different exposure settings) in this case to balance shadow and highlight detail (see below).

Further digital correction on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS3 and LightZone 3. Minor tonal adjustments performed in LightZone (using the ToneMapper/Relight tool). Photoshop adjustments included compositing and masking of two exposure versions (primarily to balance foreground and background brightness) and selective saturation enhancement.

Conservation

Mid-September in the Canadian Rockies. Near Talus Lodge, BC, Canada. September 16, 2007.

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation (Y2Y) Initiative.

This image was captured in a high alpine area near the British Columbia - Alberta border. The region shown in this image is considered as of significant importance in maintaining genetic connectivity between northern and southern populations of many species, including large carnivores.

The Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation (Y2Y) Initiative seeks to ensure that the world-renowned wilderness, wildlife, native plants, and natural processes of the Yellowstone to Yukon region continue to function as an interconnected web of life, capable of supporting all of its natural and human communities, for current and future generations.