Yet Another Alpenglow!

The cold winter has arrived and will linger for a few more months. Thankfully, my fireplace is now repaired, so I can keep myself warm in the evenings. Today, after many weeks, I finally got my hands on my camera. With the repair work done, I can now enjoy the finer things in life, including my passion for photography.

(Nanda-Kot peak in the early morning. Sometimes when the colors don’t add anything to the composition, it is better to remove them and create a monochromatic image. This one was converted to a black and white using Affinity Photo)

I took my camera out and captured a few images of the snow-capped peaks in front of me. The battery needed charging, but everything else was good to go. Frost covered the ground, and with the short days of this season, there was a lot to accomplish while the daylight lasted. Preparing wood for heating, caring for the fruit trees, regular cleaning, and daily chores—the list goes on. On top of that, the recent repair work had left my living room in a mess, which also needed cleaning. I started by tidying up the living room, preparing firewood, and charging my camera battery.

I would have finished all the work by noon, but then a family of strangers strolled by and stepped into my driveway, wanting to explore my place. I welcomed them but politely declined to show them inside the house. Still, I spent a lot of time answering their queries and being friendly. I can’t imagine having the audacity to enter a stranger’s house and ask for a tour. I’ll have to hang a sign on the main gate telling such strangers not to disturb. Just a thought for the future.

By the time I finished the day’s work, it was close to sunset. Frost was forming again, clouds lingered in the distant sky, and the snow-capped peaks were still visible. The air was clear, hinting at a beautiful sunset, maybe even a classy alpenglow!

As many of you know, I don’t own very expensive long telephoto lenses. For the evening, I mounted my Sigma 150-500 mm lens on the camera. This inexpensive long telephoto zoom lens isn’t very sharp, but it serves my purpose. Using an inexpensive lens has its advantages—the biggest one being that any damage won’t cause too much heartache. When I took the lens out, I accidentally rubbed the hood against a pillar, spoiling some of the finish. No worries, though, since no harm came to the lens.

The mountains were already bathed in yellow-orange hues, and the clouds behind them provided a perfect backdrop.

(Trishul Peak lit up in the golden evening light)

This was the first photograph I captured in the evening. The top of the peak was hazy due to the cloud cover, and the colors were not as saturated as I had hoped. While these qualities were fine for a landscape, panorama, or snapshot, they weren’t enough to take my breath away. My gut feeling told me this was going to be an evening for at least one memorable shot. All I had to do was wait.

Many photographers have written about the importance of patience, and I echo their advice: wait a little longer in the evenings for dramatic light, and rise a little earlier in the morning to catch those pristine scenes.

To pass the time, I took some images to create yet another panorama. These evening panoramas of the Himalayan peaks are a big draw for our homestay, Maini’s Hill Cottages. Panoramas are easy to create if you get some basics right. For more information, read my post “Panoramas, Snow & Coffee.“

The light was fading, but there was still time. I captured another photograph of the peaks, framing them through a window formed by the silhouettes of trees. This shot was interesting—a single “wow” moment—but not something to remember for long.

The birds were starting to settle down for the night. Chirping had almost ceased, though occasionally I could hear a call or two.

Then, for just a few seconds, the light turned perfect. The peaks were lit up in a fiery red from top to bottom. My instincts told me this was the moment I had been waiting for, and I had just a few seconds to capture the fleeting scene..

(Nanda-Ghunti peak in full glory of Alpenglow!)

This was the photograph I had been waiting for. The colors were perfect, with the peak clear and the clouds darker in the background. Nanda-Gunti isn’t a very high peak, so its summit wasn’t obscured by clouds, unlike Trishul and the other peaks today.

I captured this image handheld, using a shutter speed of 1/400 seconds at an f/8 aperture, with an ISO of 720 and a focal length of 380 mm. The Sigma lens I used is known for being soft and causing excessive vignetting. I chose this focal length to create a dark foreground with cool colors and simple lines, which helped balance out the lens’s limitations. I employed center-weighted metering for exposure, though nowadays, one can use any metering mode, preview the histogram, and readjust as needed.

I had captured the image I had visualized earlier in the day. Now, I could head back inside and relax with a glass of good rum and some Simon & Garfunkel songs. It had been a fruitful evening—a cherished memory in the making.

The image was captured in RAW format and later post-processed in Affinity Photo. No filters or drastic changes were applied; this is simply how nature presented itself on that lucky evening. An enlarged version of the photograph will now hang in a friend’s house.

Further Reading:
Panoramas, Snow & Coffee
On trail of snow-capped peaks
Interview with Affinity Photo (opens up in a new tab)

This article, originally published on my photography site, is now archived here; while some details may have lost their original context over time, it still offers an intriguing read.
Complete list of archived content – Photography Articles