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Author Topic: Spectre of the Brocken over Crater Lake  (Read 252 times)

maddogmurph

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Spectre of the Brocken over Crater Lake
« on: November 30, 2019, 07:19:49 pm »

I first read about the optical phenomenons called "Spectre of the Brocken" and the "Glory" ring in Galen Rowell's book called, "Mountain Light." I think this had the same impact on me at the time as the first time I saw a sunrise shot from Nugget Point in New Zealand. It seemed unattainable, far off, almost like a fairy tale and I'd wager that most people on this planet will never see one. The conditions and angles have to be in perfect unison for the optics to take shape and often it's just a flutter of moments before it dissipates. One of the stories in Galen's book outlines a time he went into a storm against all odds and came out with rainbows and epic moody shots. The moral of the story was in his words, "Just go shoot." I think most experienced landscapers would agree that to get really great shots sometimes we have to go into the eye of the storm to witness the clearing. This day the road was closed up to the Rim of Crater lake because of a giant storm... 60-80MPH winds, and 18 inches of fresh snow had just hit, so we put our snow shoes on, climbed up to the Rim of Crater Lake, spent the night, and woke up for Sunrise, with the place to ourselves. What a beautiful day it ended up being as the storm cleared revealing the lake below, and as evening fell, we climbed a ridge line, the fog came up from inside the rim back lit be the setting sun.

Below - is the ridge we stood on for the glory, the other side of the glory at the time, and a shot of the ridge before climbing up. This was steep, and fairly technical.

As a side note, I'd love for some of you to come to the Patagonia Fjords. It's fully outfitted boat, with a bunks, a skiff, and cooks, anyone is welcome and it's for all skill levels (I'm bringing the gal). Message me for details - the trip is late March early April 2020 for Patagonia's fall/autumn.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2019, 08:45:44 pm by maddogmurph »
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Eric Myrvaagnes

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Re: Spectre of the Brocken over Crater Lake
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2019, 08:30:12 pm »

Wow!
Thanks for sharing that stunning moment with us.
I wish I were young (and energetic) enough to do little photo jaunts like that in the middle of a big storm!    ;D
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Two23

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Re: Spectre of the Brocken over Crater Lake
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2019, 09:01:14 pm »

That is pretty cool. 8)


Kent in SD
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John R

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Re: Spectre of the Brocken over Crater Lake
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2019, 03:55:33 am »

Wow!
Thanks for sharing that stunning moment with us.
I wish I were young (and energetic) enough to do little photo jaunts like that in the middle of a big storm!    ;D
Very cool indeed. I remember reading about Galen Rowell in Outdoor Photographer before he and his wife died in plane crash. He wrote very well, as I recall. He would change his cameras every two or so years because he said the vibration of the planes and cars would loosen the screws in the cameras. He was a slide shooter. No way to "post process", what you see is what you get.

JR

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armand

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Re: Spectre of the Brocken over Crater Lake
« Reply #4 on: December 01, 2019, 06:08:53 pm »

I first read about the optical phenomenons called "Spectre of the Brocken" and the "Glory" ring in Galen Rowell's book called, "Mountain Light." I think this had the same impact on me at the time as the first time I saw a sunrise shot from Nugget Point in New Zealand. It seemed unattainable, far off, almost like a fairy tale and I'd wager that most people on this planet will never see one. The conditions and angles have to be in perfect unison for the optics to take shape and often it's just a flutter of moments before it dissipates. One of the stories in Galen's book outlines a time he went into a storm against all odds and came out with rainbows and epic moody shots. The moral of the story was in his words, "Just go shoot." I think most experienced landscapers would agree that to get really great shots sometimes we have to go into the eye of the storm to witness the clearing. This day the road was closed up to the Rim of Crater lake because of a giant storm... 60-80MPH winds, and 18 inches of fresh snow had just hit, so we put our snow shoes on, climbed up to the Rim of Crater Lake, spent the night, and woke up for Sunrise, with the place to ourselves. What a beautiful day it ended up being as the storm cleared revealing the lake below, and as evening fell, we climbed a ridge line, the fog came up from inside the rim back lit be the setting sun.

Below - is the ridge we stood on for the glory, the other side of the glory at the time, and a shot of the ridge before climbing up. This was steep, and fairly technical.

As a side note, I'd love for some of you to come to the Patagonia Fjords. It's fully outfitted boat, with a bunks, a skiff, and cooks, anyone is welcome and it's for all skill levels (I'm bringing the gal). Message me for details - the trip is late March early April 2020 for Patagonia's fall/autumn.

Very nice, I take it you had a telephoto for the first? I was reading that Galen book but I guess I stopped before it made it to that page; interesting view on photography.

First time I encountered this phenomenon I didn't know what it was, quite spooky. Here is where I shared those images: https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=113724.msg935987#msg935987 . They are not as nice as yours though.
And later: https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=118771.msg991011#msg991011

Paulo Bizarro

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Re: Spectre of the Brocken over Crater Lake
« Reply #5 on: December 02, 2019, 04:36:36 am »

Fantastic set.

maddogmurph

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Re: Spectre of the Brocken over Crater Lake
« Reply #6 on: December 02, 2019, 11:37:31 am »

Very nice, I take it you had a telephoto for the first? I was reading that Galen book but I guess I stopped before it made it to that page; interesting view on photography.

First time I encountered this phenomenon I didn't know what it was, quite spooky. Here is where I shared those images: https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=113724.msg935987#msg935987 . They are not as nice as yours though.
And later: https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=118771.msg991011#msg991011

Yes. Hand held on the 80-400 at 80mm F5.6 if I recall. And those images of yours are spectacular. I love the ridge-line. I remember seeing those a while back actually.
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