Photo by Phong Le
Into the Dark Night
Shot 5 minutes before sunset from the summit of Pagoda Mountain in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, the culmination of a 22-hour multi-peak traverse that connected Lookout Mountain, Mount Meeker, Longs Peak, and Mount Orton. I spent 9½ hours coming down the mountain after taking this photo, hence the title.
Flyover video:
Post processing notes:
Since I shoot with an iPhone, I start my edits with global light/color adjustments in Apple Photos to evaluate whether it is worth taking into ON1. In ON1 I further adjusted colors; applied dynamic contrast to some of the ridges; applied a Hollywood Glow to the sun to soften it; and made fine-grained adjustments to the light against the rocks (primarily foreground).Exif information:
| Copyright: | © Phong Lê @zecanard 🦆 |
| Camera: | iPhone 16 Pro Max |
| Aperture: | f/1.78 |
| Focal Length: | 6.7649998664856mm |
| ISO: | 64 |
| Shutter Speed: | 1/626 sec. |
| Created: | July 20, 2025 20:21:53 |