It seems to me that over the last few weeks/months more and more pictures featuring some sort of "Alpenglow" have been posted on SP. Any picture that has some variation of "glow" in its title seem to gather plenty of votes regardless of the objective photographic quality. I agree that some are really nice, but I just don't understand the obsession with those photos. As soon as there is some part of the mountain illuminated with some sort of reddish warm light the photo is considered "great"

Also, "Alpenglow" in its truest meaning is not illumination of the mountain with the last rays of the setting sun. It appears <b>after</b> the sun set and the mountain is illuminated <b>indirectly</b> by the sunrays that reflect from clouds or particles in the sky.

SoCalHiker wrote:… Any picture that has some variation of "glow" in its title seem to gather plenty of votes regardless of the objective photographic quality. I agree that some are really nice, but I just don't understand the obsession with those photos. As soon as there is some part of the mountain illuminated with some sort of reddish warm light the photo is considered "great"

I don’t really care about SP votes, but I’ve always liked ‘morning glow” and other warm photos.
This one is special to me and always begins back great memories of my first time up Whitney EB

graham wrote:
This one is special to me and always begins back great memories of my first time up Whitney EB

That is a nice one indeed.

Any picture that has some variation of "glow" in its title seem to gather plenty of votes regardless of the objective photographic quality.

People are easily taken by catchy titles and glittery things (here, photoshopped pictures). It's been the story of our species all along, and SP is no exception.

But it's still amusing to watch.

I generally love alpenglow pics, reminds me of my favourite time of the day.

I guess I plead guilty as charged.

Bob Sihler wrote:People are easily taken by catchy titles and glittery things (here, photoshopped pictures). It's been the story of our species all along, and SP is no exception.

But it's still amusing to watch.

so very true

radson wrote:I generally love alpenglow pics, reminds me of my favourite time of the day.

I guess I plead guilty as charged.

Don't get me wrong. I also generally like those pictures, and some of those here on SP are really good. But many aren't. I am just surprised (but I shouldn't actually) that merely putting that word "glow" in the title gathers so much positive attention. And as I said earlier, many of those are not "Alpenglow" in the strict sense.

I didn't use to take many pictures. I'm particularly not good about taking pictures while belaying someone .. their life is in my hands, so that's what I tend to concentrate on.

I was doing the N ridge of Mt. Conness with a friend in 2006 and he brought along his gigantic D-SLR. He said something to the effect that he took a lot of pictures for when he was older and couldn't climb as much / anymore. Now he will soon be a father, and some of you guys know how that tends to cut down on climbing time

When I was in the hospital, he brought me pictures I had taken on some of our trips, and some of his own pictures. At the time I was unsure I would ever be able to climb again. Looking through those photos really cheered me up, and helped me remember the kind of person I was and where I'd been.

Another friend I climb with these days takes what seems like shitloads of pictures. She has a great eye and comes up with some real stunners. I enjoy looking at the sequence of shots she takes, and some of the offbeat compositions. She likes to make slideshows / DVD's of her adventures and they are a lot of fun to watch.

SoCalHiker wrote:Also, "Alpenglow" in its truest meaning is not illumination of the mountain with the last rays of the setting sun. It appears <b>after</b> the sun set and the mountain is illuminated <b>indirectly</b> by the sunrays that reflect from clouds or particles in the sky.

Actually, Alpenglow is direct illumination, refraction of tangential sunlight like a prism. You can see a rainbow of colors as the alpenglow progresses.



After the sun has gone down, there's really no more alpenglow. To say that alpenglow occurs when the sun has gone down is like saying that you can break up light with a prism without shining the light. I looked up alpenglow on Wiki, and it's even wrong there.

Alpenglow on the Bugaboo Glacier. This is direct illumination, not indirect.

I can imagine that Alpenglow is both indirect or direct illumination, but the indirect sort would not be very interesting for a photograph.

The direct sort is easy enough to understand: if you are on top of the peak, the sun hasn't set; if you're below, it has. It's a result of the curvature of the earth.

The light is interesting because it goes through more layers of atmosphere, with prism and other effects. That's a result of the curvature of the earth too, but it's just like watching the sun set over the ocean in terms of the colors.

Getting the reddish colors of the atmosphere onto rocks or snow of various colors makes for the cool effect.

rhyang wrote:I didn't use to take many pictures. I'm particularly not good about taking pictures while belaying someone .. their life is in my hands, so that's what I tend to concentrate on.

I was doing the N ridge of Mt. Conness with a friend in 2006 and he brought along his gigantic D-SLR. He said something to the effect that he took a lot of pictures for when he was older and couldn't climb as much / anymore. Now he will soon be a father, and some of you guys know how that tends to cut down on climbing time

When I was in the hospital, he brought me pictures I had taken on some of our trips, and some of his own pictures. At the time I was unsure I would ever be able to climb again. Looking through those photos really cheered me up, and helped me remember the kind of person I was and where I'd been.

Another friend I climb with these days takes what seems like shitloads of pictures. She has a great eye and comes up with some real stunners. I enjoy looking at the sequence of shots she takes, and some of the offbeat compositions. She likes to make slideshows / DVD's of her adventures and they are a lot of fun to watch.

Well said. This is the reason I take photos and write an account of my trips. Some of my partners give me guff for it, but in the long run I think memories benefit from some photographic help.

Sierra Ledge Rat wrote:
Actually, Alpenglow is direct illumination, refraction of tangential sunlight like a prism. You can see a rainbow of colors as the alpenglow progresses.

And what is your reference for that?

SoCalHiker wrote:Also, "Alpenglow" in its truest meaning is not illumination of the mountain with the last rays of the setting sun. It appears <b>after</b> the sun set and the mountain is illuminated <b>indirectly</b> by the sunrays that reflect from clouds or particles in the sky.

And what is your definitive reference for that?

My reference is 40+ years of mountaineering. Everybody (but you and Wiki, apparently) knows what alpenglow is. Even Galen Rowell refers to alpenglow as direct illumination:

Alpenglow on Keeler, Needle, Mt. Whitney
Alpenglow on the east face of Mount Whitney
http://www.mountainlight.com/gallery.easternsierra/images.html

squishy wrote:What he is referring too is called Backscatter, photographers of sunsets know it well..

...

Alpenglow includes it but is not defined by it...

...

It really is fairly insignificant of how different people define it. It apparently is not a scientific expression and so lacks a precise definition. You can define it as you wish, but some photographers and non-professional photographers (like me) use it in a stricter sense with indirect illumination. As evident here on SP to label something as "Alpenglow" sells pretty well so it's no surprise that some call it that as soon as the mountaintop is bathed in warm light around sunrise or sunset.