I had hoped that one image from my Western Arthurs adventure would leap out as an anchor shot for the new website and I think you'll agree that this image fulfills that hope.

I had climbed up out of the corrie at Lake Cygnus early that morning with a plan to push through as far as Mt Hesperus and then camp overnight near the top of Morraine A before tackling the descent back to Junction Creek. I felt it was wise to allow a full day for the descent so as to avoid another 'intermediate' camp if it proved to be as difficult as the ascent at the beginning of the trip especially as I didn't fancy another evening spent looking for drinking water!

As I lifted my head from preparing my campsite at Mt Hesperus the afternoon light on the ranges to the south started to hint at some interesting possibilities with silvery highlights developing on the tops of the clouds and the beginnings of a very promising perspective haze thickening across the hills.

I spotted a nice flat rock which would give me a slightly elevated position and climbed up onto it to take in the details of the view and see if there were any interesting features worth highlighting. I did spot a waterfall coming down the cliffs to the right and a river meandering across the valley floor and decided that these, in combination with the lovely cloud lighting, would form the basis of the shot. I set up my tripod but then decided I needed my longer lens so went back to the camp to get it.

I was walking back to take the shot when the silhouette of the tripod against the background jumped out at me as an icon of what it feels like to be a landscape photographer and that was the genesis of this shot.

I attached the longer lens to the camera and stood watching the lowering light - waiting for the right combination of elevation of the sun and rotation of the earth so that I could simultaneously get the right light on the waterfall and the bends in the river.

I made 8 passes at this image in the ever changing light but this shot came from a moment when the sun had settled in the sky so that the shadows of the trees on the valley floor were elongating towards me. Suddenly it seemed like I was being propelled towards the scene as it magnified in front of me and this shot was taken at that moment.   

For me Out Under The Sky captures the wonder of nature - an unassuming, unapologetic moment of beauty.

All the planning for this shot was done on-the-fly based on the changing lighting conditions and the elements I could see in the scene. 

Once I could see that the perspective haze was deepening I referenced my compass and The Photographer's Ephemeris to judge the central target in the image then it was just a matter of waiting until the moment for the shot presented itself.