Tag: alpenglow

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Alabama Hills

Dawn begins to light Mt. Langley and the wild rock formations of the Alabama Hills
Dawn begins to light Mt. Langley and the wild rock formations of the Alabama Hills. Canon 70-200mm f/4L lens with the EOS-5D MkII. ISO 200. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1.6 sec. at f/16.

A popular stop on any eastern Sierra tour is the Alabama Hills outside of Lone Pine. I’ve been here before, but every time I come back I see new things to focus on and photograph. Dawn is the most versatile time to shoot the area, as your photographs are enhanced by the intense alpenglow that adorns the 14,000 foot peaks to the west.

The two dominating mountain subjects in this area are Mt. Langley (above) and the Mt. Whitney massif (below). I was lucky to shoot the area after an early season snow storm, so I had some snow to contrast the red rock of the mountain tops. The Alabama Hills are covered with interesting boulder shapes, which provides endless photographic possibilities.

The peak of Mt. Whitney glows red in the early morning light
The peak of Mt. Whitney glows red in the early morning light. Canon 70-200mm f/4L lens with the EOS-5D MkII. ISO 200. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/4 sec. at f/16.

Using an entire arsenal of lens lengths is key to this area. Wide angles work well framing mountains inside of arches. Medium lengths can use rock formations as foregrounds, while not diminishing the relative size of the massive mountains in the background (as seen in the first photo). Perhaps my favorite in this area however, are the long lenses. Point them anywhere and you’ll see interesting rock detail or a study of the cracks and crags that define a mountain face.

Moments after the sun rises over the Nevada desert, the peak of Mt. Whitney glows a bright orange
Moments after the sun rises over the Nevada desert, the peak of Mt. Whitney glows a bright orange. Canon 100-400mm f/5.6L lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 EV: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6.
Snow, rock, shadow and light combine to illustrate the steep slopes of Mt. Langley at dawn
Snow, rock, shadow and light combine to illustrate the steep slopes of Mt. Langley at dawn. Canon 100-400mm f/5.6L lens with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 EV: 1/640 sec. at f/5.6.

I kept shooting until the red glow of the mountains faded to its natural gray, and the long shadows of dawn began to shrink. I looked to the shady spots so that I didn’t have to work against the harsh shadows of mid morning. My eye was drawn to the variety of cactus growing in this high desert. In order to separate the cactus from their busy surroundings, I attached my 70-200mm lens and got down on my stomach. I worked with apertures that gave me just enough depth of field for the cactus, but threw the background out of focus.

Cholla cactus thrives in the high desert of the Alabama Hills
Cholla cactus thrives in the high desert of the Alabama Hills. Canon 70-200mm f/4L lens with the EOS-5D MkII. ISO 100. Evaluative metering 0 EV: 1/250 sec. at f/4.
A modest beavertail cactus grows in the Alabama Hills
A modest beavertail cactus grows in the Alabama Hills. Canon 70-200mm f/4L lens with the EOS-5D MkII. ISO 100. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 EV: 1/10 sec. at f/8.

After another hour, it was time to pack up for the morning and head out. If I had several days here, I would use this part of the day to explore and scout potential spots for future sunsets and sunrises. Unfortunately this day, I had other places to visit.

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Alpenglow – what is it?

Recently several people have asked me what alpenglow is, and what causes it. This term was probably popularized among photographers by Galen Rowell, who wrote about it and demonstrated it wonderfully through many of his fantastic landscapes. The term refers to the reddish pre-dawn and post-sunset lighting effects sometimes seen on mountain peaks. There is some debate as to whether it also refers to the light cast directly by the sun at the moment of sunrise or sunset, or if it only refers to an indirect red cast on the mountain top while the mountain is still in the earth’s shadow. Either way, it is a beautiful sight to behold.

Mt. Whitney glows red in pre-dawn light, Alabama Hills, CA
Mt. Whitney glows red in pre-dawn light, Alabama Hills, CA

I got a chance to see intense alpenglow recently when I visited the Alabama Hills on the eastern side of the Sierra. In the photo above, you can see the intense red of alpenglow touching the peak of Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in the continental US.

Why is alpenglow red? The longest and slowest moving light waves in the visible spectrum are red. As light travels through our atmosphere, the faster wave lengths (blue) are absorbed – only the red penetrates. Alpenglow is an extreme version of this light absorption because of the increased amount of atmosphere light has to travel through at this time of day. Here we have the sun rising on one horizon (east), striking an object on the opposite horizon (west). The red wave length is the only end of the spectrum that makes it through all that atmosphere. The fact that there are no features obstructing the sun as it rises across the Nevada desert, combined with the fact that the peaks of the eastern Sierra rise over 10,000 feet straight up, make the Alabama Hills one of the best places on earth to view alpenglow.

Light from the rising sun creeps down the face of Mt. Whitney at dawn, Alabama Hills, CA
Light from the rising sun creeps down the face of Mt. Whitney at dawn, Alabama Hills, CA

Here we have another shot of Whitney taken less than four minutes after the first photo. Here the darker purple of the earth shadow moved down the face, and the red color was more orange as the sun rose above the eastern horizon. Even though it was only four minutes later, there was less atmosphere for the sun light to traverse, shifting the color away from red and toward the shorter wavelengths.

Copyright 2017 Hank Christensen