Ruined by Man

Tonight was one of those epic Montana sunsets, where light beams were literally shooting out from the horizon. It must be the moisture in the air in combination with the openings in the clouds that makes the beams so epic. Just before the oranges of the sunset came on, four light beams shot out of the sky right in front of the house, so I grabbed my camera and ran upstairs to the porch.

I started shooting at about 50mm, so a little bit telephoto but not much. There was a tree that happened to by right where the sunbeams came together, so I used that as a focal point since I didn't have time to get up higher.

I shot at ISO100, f5, and 1/160. Nothing special to report.

Unfortunately, I realized that there were power lines cutting right through the frame! They weren't that bad though, so I thought I could just correct them in Ps later.

In editing, I raised the clarity and vibrance. I also made local adjustments over the light beams that raised the highlights and clarity a bit to make them stand out more. Other than that, I did no editing.

And I left the power lines in. Yes, it would have been pretty easy to get rid of them, but it seemed fitting to leave them in a ruin such a perfect natural event. There are a lot of natural wonder and beautiful places that have been tarnished by artificial things, so I let this photo capture that somewhat. What really surprised me was how long it too me to see the power lines during shooting, since they're something I suppose I've just gotten too used to seeing everywhere.

See you tomorrow!