"Peaking" through the Clouds

This was taken last week on my trip to Exshaw. That day I took several pictures of various peaks in swirling clouds, but this one was my favourite. It was only a few days ago that I had an epiphany as to why this is so. I think that subconsciously I was reminded of Ansel Adam's famous photograph: El Capitan, Winter, Sunrise, Yosemite. My picture reminds me a little of the El Capitan picture; the drama is there, some of the compositional elements are similar, as are the swirling clouds, but of course this is not anything like Ansel's picture, and I certainly did not think of that picture when I was taking my picture. In this picture, there are well recognized compositional elements. The peak in the left upper quadrant is balanced by the tall trees in the right lower quadrant. The triangular shaped dark cloud echos, but in an inverted way, the forest clothed slope below. So there are many reasons why I like this photograph, but there is nothing wrong with thinking of it as a tribute to Ansel! By the way, please forgive me for the horrible pun in the title!

[photo for week of 27 September 2010]

© David Butts, 2010