Crater lake is sort of a mythical place. It's like Yosemite in a way because as you come to the rim for the first time you realize something powerful once happened here. This place has natural history which includes sheer volcanic force and power. Wizard island, a volcanic cinder cone adorns the caldera as a cute reminder of this force. Mount Mazama a large stratovolcano erupted violently circa 7,700 years ago forming this beautiful place.
The winters here are cold, and there was still snow here in July which I found to be fairly incredible. I never really thought of the place as a winter mountain, but then it is fairly high up in the cascade mountains. This was shot in the dead of night, just before twilights approach, and was a complex shot.
It's a two shot blend both taken on the d810 at 15mm. The first shot was focus stacked on the foreground and was shot at ISO2450, f3.2 for 460 seconds, while the second was focused on infinity at ISO6400, f2.8 for 20 seconds. The two shots were then blended together in Photoshop to include the sky from the shorter exposure, and the foreground from the longer exposure. I was shooting nearly blind here, composing was very difficult and required shining a bright light on the foreground for both focusing and framing. The lack of moonlight makes the stars quite bright, but takes away foreground detail and obviously complicates shooting.
