Assignment 6: Landscape

Raymond Liu: The forty-fourth

I took this photo while hiking on the trail to Russian Ridge; it was just before 8PM, so it was still "the golden hour". I used a small aperture to really focus on all the mountains in the distance and used a short exposure time since I wanted the sun to look dreary and the hills to look somewhat "Death's Twilight Kingdom"-esque. The fog was really helpful in creating an ethereal feeling; I like how the sunlight refracts off the fog, but only below the cloud layer.

I warmed up the temperature and added clarity in Photoshop. I recessed the shadows to create more contrast between the hills.

The title comes from a passage from Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince:

"
"One day," you said to me, "I saw the sunset forty-four times!"

And a little later you added:

"You know--one loves the sunset, when one is so sad . . ."

"Were you so sad, then?" I asked, "on the day of the forty-four sunsets?"

But the little prince made no reply.

"