Interesting Photo of the Day: Mount St. Helens Focus Stack

Interesting Photos

Have you ever been exposed to harsh conditions just to capture that one photo you were looking for? Landscape photography sometimes tests photographers’ limits! It could be rain, snow, or intense winds that disrupt your session. Photographer Ross Schram von Haupt tested his patience and fortitude waiting to capture this lovely shot of Mt. St. Helens while ash blew around him in 50mph wind:

“Mt. St. Helens Towering Above Wildflowers During a Beautiful Sunrise” by Ross Schram von Haupt (Via Reddit. Click image to see full size)

He compared it to being blasted with sand while standing on sand dunes in high winds. The blowing ash certainly helps the sunrise’s appearance. The emerging sunlight blends beautiful pastel colors across the background and into the sky. Von Haupt  used five focus-stacked shots to show the sweeping bed of wildflowers leading up to the mountain’s edge. For this image, he used a Nikon D610 with a Nikon 16-35mm f/4 lens. For the foreground, his settings for the five shots were ISO 1000, 16mm focal length and 1/10 second shutter speed. In the background, he used ISO 100, 16mm and 1/6 second. During post-processing, he merged the six images together. Because of the blowing ash, he had to capture the flower pictures the day before. Great work!