Sunrise, Lake Issyk-Kol Photo

Photographer’s Note

(The discussion this morning between parbo and avene inspired me to post this shot.)

Lake Issyk-Köl, in Kyrgyzstan, fills a valley between two branches of the Tian Shan mountain range. It is at 1600 m (5300 feet), one of the largest mountain lakes in the world, and has no outlet, so it is slightly saline and never freezes. (That does not mean it's warm enough to swim in, at least not in late October!)

We were staying overnight by the lake on our way from Almaty to Bishkek; the lake is the long way around, but that was the point - to see the lake. We arrived after dark and left shortly after dawn, which kind of spoiled the point. But Jean and I did get up in time to see the sunrise (around 7:00 AM; the camera clock was set an hour early). The resort (still under construction) where they put us up had a collection of pavilions extending out from the lakeshore, which is where I stood to take this shot, looking toward the eastern end.

During Soviet days the lake was off-limits to foreigners, because it was used as a submarine and torpedo testing area. This led to the odd sight of Soviet naval officers and sailors walking around in uniform a couple of thousand kilometers from the nearest ocean.

Technical note: I shot this at EV -1; always underexpose a sunrise or sunset.

parbo, Cretense, avene, zmey, feather, trekks, zeynepe, jhm has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

parbo (10936) 2009-01-09 9:57

Hello Daniel,

Ha, ha. You will fall down me from my chair while laughing again and again... I'm a registered clumsy man already ;)

Wow! The sky and lights are amazing with silhouettes of mountains. I like your perfect timing for capturing golden lights just behind of hills and their reflections on lake surface. Fantastic. Congratulations. Have a nice weekend.

Best Regards,

Ertugrul

Cretense (54720) 2009-01-09 10:41

Hi Dan!

Excellent sunrise photo, simple but effective composition, there's no need for complicated stuff when nature is doing magic! Excellent light managment, fantastic warm colours, looks like there's some movement on the clouds, as if you had not taken this photo at 1/320 seconds. Congratulations!

Hercules

avene (10850) 2009-01-09 11:28

hi Dan,
as Hercules already said - the first impression is of a long exposure, the clouds seem to have moved in the sky. I like a lot the result, the effect of a smooth horizontal motion is very calming and shoothing. great colours too, the sky looks like liquid amber.

best,
Kristine

Dorota (728) 2009-01-09 11:49

Hello
Lovely paintings on the sky ! Sunrise, mountains and lake ,great composition !
Regards
Dorota

zmey (7242) 2009-01-09 12:11

huh!?? today everyone has taken either to posting burning sunsets/sunrises or refusing to post and hide them in his drawer (like parbo...). and now, even you, Dan, are doing the same...

hey, a beautiful sunrise: no doubt about that. i've never been to Kyrgyzstan, so thanks for sharing this glimpse.

cheers,
kristaps

feather (49848) 2009-01-10 5:36

I'm always a sucker for a sunrise/sunset. The colours are beautiful and the reflected light on the water is glowing. But come on Dan! Where is the link to the 'discussion' for the nosy people? I had to go searching for it! ;D
Kath

rgarrigus (0) 2009-01-10 5:47 [Comment]

Show Comment +

trekks (14260) 2009-01-10 10:01

hello Dan

I have seen and shot some sunset scenes but this is the first one I see from Kyrgyzstan. Very well captured mood and when you are so far away in another land, amazing to have a similar sunset mood like home touch tone. You provided very informative note to go with this sunset view, to make us appreciate more about your story telling.

Perhaps I am still attached to the era of CCCP and Kyrgyzstan is a new in-thing :) Great post.

tfs, bill

zeynepe (9328) 2009-01-10 10:21

Hi Daniel,
The sunrise is astonishing against the inky night sky.The light is powerful and the calm water adds a peaceful atmosphere to the image.
Congrats and have a nice weekend,
Zeynep

jhm (81659) 2009-01-12 4:26

Hello Daniël,

Sun rise and sunset give almost alway a wonderful image.
You wait exactly to the sun was almost under the dark silhouette of the horizon.
Very nice depth sharpness and excellent real colours.
Nice done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

danyy (67924) 2009-01-14 14:28

Bonjour Daniel,
les mots manquent souvent pour dire ce que l'on ressent en regardant de telles photos, on dit facilement qu'elles sont parfaites, bien exposées, nettes, colorées, mais au fond de nous, la séduction de ces moments décisifs est encore bien plus forte.
Amicalement.
Daniel.

AlvaroGuijarro (288) 2009-01-14 15:41

Wonderful colors in a slightly windy morning, with the impressive background of the Tian Shan (celestial mountains) range.
I like very much.
Thanks.
Regards,
Álvaro

P.S. Issyk Kul is at 1600m over sea level ;)

COSTANTINO (22167) 2009-01-21 12:31

Hello
A nice photo full of colours,red,orange,gold
e.t.c.The sky and the lights are really excellent,bravo artistic photo well done and well seen
regards and greetings
Costantino