The lesser Great Range and Gothics during a storm.

The weather forecast called for early morning snow and clearing by mid day and a clear night. I was intending to hike to Big Slide to photograph the Great Range with late afternoon/post sunset light rather than the contrasty mid afternoon light it is often photographed in from the ridge (such as this shot). Unfortunately the weather was wrong and these imprompto quasi-snapshots were the best shots of the day despite the snow in the distance. I only set up my tripod for these shots because I needed a snack and drink and the beams of light shone on the JB Valley were spectacular (far more impressive than film can record without more filtration). I took a series of shots using a 28mm and a 50mm prime and a 1 stop grad ND filter on a ultralight tripod -that I carry while hiking. But in fairly high winds I was suprised anything was sharp. I managed to get a few frames off between gust. This was the best of the bunch with the god beams in the background. By the summit of Big Slide it was pure whiteout with no oportunities to remove the camera from the chest pouch. Photo: 28mm Pentax @ f/16 @ hyperfocal distance on Kodak 400UC. Scanned using Minolta Scan Dual III and converted to B&W using channel conversion from the the original 2840dpi, 16bit scan.