Old haunts always present themselves with new challenges. Often it is the challenge of trying to come up with something new. This is Bear Trap Canyon where the Madison Dam is located and forms Ennis Lake. The Hydroelectric dam was built in the canyon back in the early 1900’s Today it has become a common spot for fisherman to come and fish the pool beneath the dam as the giant browns get stuck as they head upstream towards the lake. The canyon, being so close to Ennis Lake, has become a favorite for weekend travelers to camp and enjoy the water.
I went there for a slightly different purpose. Having fished the dam before, not really impressed, I knew the area was beautiful with the right clouds. Sadly my luck didn’t hold out and the clouds blew away. It didn’t stop me. With the D4, 24-70 AF-S, on Lexar Digital Film, I used the natural contour of the canyon to capture its beauty. Lately I have been doing a lot with Camera Raw and this is another example of just that.
Canyons are naturally dark places. The light moves through the canyon and throughout the day most of the canyon is in shadow. Well with that in mind I played around with bringing out those areas in shadow. The most important area was the sky. If you notice it kind of sucked. Clouds gone, not great light. By using the gradient tool and just moving down the highlight slider and the temperature slider I was able to bring back that blue. The rest was just moving the light around where I wanted your eye to go.