2012: Wildscapes - Commended
Robert Sinclair (USA)
Morning Glory by night
There must be thousands of images of the thermal Morning Glory Pool, taken in daylight by visitors to Yellowstone National Park in the USA. Some seven metres in diameter, the pool is home to thermophilic bacteria that thrive in the heat and give the pool its extraordinary colours. To capture the scene in a new and dramatic way, Robert waited for a warm autumn night and then carefully positioned two flashlights to illuminate the details of the inner walls beneath the star-filled sky. ‘To minimise interference from steam rising off the surface, I had to wait for the breeze to blow it away from the camera,’ he says. After three hours, he got the shot he wanted, of a giant eye staring up at the Milky Way, looking for all the world as though it might, at any moment, blink.
Canon EOS 5D Mark II + 16-35mm f2.8 lens at 16mm; 45 sec at f2.8; ISO 100; Gitzo tripod + Canon remote shutter release.
View other winners in this category
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Winner Aurora over ice Thilo Bubek
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Runner-up Heavenly view Magnus Carlsson
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Specially Commended Celebration of a grey day Fortunato Gatto
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Commended The cove by moonlight Miquel Angel Artús Illana
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Commended The great Maelifell Hans Strand
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