Behind the shot – Floating Peaks

Last November i spent a week on the incredible island of Madeira together with some great friends. Its located far out in the Atlantic ocean and in November there are clouds rolling in from the Atlantic creating an incredible playground for those of us who enjoy photographing fog. And there is nothing i enjoy more than photographing in fog!

After an incredible day of swimming, laughing and trying to get the fog in just the right places, we decided to drive up to Pico do Ariero to try to capture the open views from the second highest peak on the island. I had low expectations, i have seen some serious mountains in my life and it takes quite a bit of scenery to impress me when it comes to mountains. What we experience blew my mind! The peaks surrounding Pico do Ariero reminds me of the Dolomites, and when the low clouds drifted through the peaks in incredible speeds i was beyond excited! The wind was horrendous and it was almost impossible to get a sharp shot since everything was vibrating. I am working mostly with long exposures these days so it was extra challenging. I did mostly 1 minute exposures, more than enough to create an incredible atmosphere and sense of motion. The clouds diffused parts of hte mountains creating incredible depth to the scene. I was extremely lucky having the closest peak totally clear for the minute i was exposing and i was perfectly balancing the rest of the scene. I love the mystery and atmosphere in this photo, two of the main things i dream about when im out shooting. I kept the scene dark, revealing only parts of the scene. The result is one of my very favourite mountain pictures!

I cant wait to go back to Madeira when we host our first workshop here this coming November.

Fuji GFX 50S – Canon 135mm f2 @ f5.6 – iso 100 – 60 sec