Gear: Apple iPhone 16 Pro - RAW
Settings: 1/147 - f / 2.8, ISO 50, 16mm, handheld
Not to be copycat with this fire image, Larry ??“ but I couldn’t resist submitting this image while the Gold Mountain Fire still burns … Even though YOUR image was far more dramatic and powerful!!
The Gold Mountain Fire started the day before we arrived at the Hot Springs in Ridgway, Colorado. First day it burned 513 acres. But the next day was RED FLAG WARNINGS and wind speeds were gusting ferociously and the fire jumped to over 1,000 acres ??“ and grew exponentially from there. Fortunately, as we approach the beginning of August, it has just been announced at 50% containment, with a burn of over 39,000 ACRES. This shot was taken with my iPhone from the parking lot of our hotel. There is just one ridge between us and the fire. I went back to shoot with my Canon R5 / Canon RF 100-500 and was astounded to see the fire move down the mountainside consuming first one, then the next below it would burst into flames ??“ SIX trees in less than one minute. Very frightening to view so closely. Our bags stayed packed by our door, ready to grab at any moment. With bright flames and billowing clouds of white, black and brown smoke blocking the sun and casting a strange pall over everything ??“ then then wind would change and our air could clear momentarily. Fortunately, the base Fire Camp was a mile up the road and over ONE THOUSAND firefighters and Hot Shot crews ??“ some from as far away as Alaska - were camped at the Ridgway Fairgrounds.
Try as I might, keeping an eye on all of the arial coverage ??“ 6 heli, 5 scooper planes, and 2 tankers dumping retardant, I wasn’t able to get a real “dumping” shot, as the worst of the fire they kept working on was just over the far ridge and they were behind the smoke when dumping. But this shot with the flames shooting in the air (probably 50-75’ high) was the most dramatic … with the exception of night shots of our ridgeline ??“ which looked like a massive volcanic eruption.
LRC EDITS include:
- Contrast, Vibrance, Clarity
- Mask to adjust saturation, shadows, texture, dehaze
Linear gradient to delineate the closer ridgeline
7 comments posted
Larry Treadwell
I feel the use of the forest greens and the red/orange mountains form a strong color palette of complimentary colors. There is a strong diagonal line climbing upward from the lower left heading toward the upper right that helps the eye to track across the frame. While I can't see the fire (is it behind the central forest) I still find the image interesting as it shows the majesty of the mountians that I enjoy looking at. Posted: 08/03/2026 21:20:07
Michael Jack
I can't see the fire either, but it must have been quite scary. I like you framed the image with trees on both sides and composed the mountain as a leading diagonal line drawing my eye through the image and leaving just enough sky at the top. Posted: 08/04/2026 00:03:45
Barbara Gore
Hi Grace. Like the others, I can't see the fire, but I do see a beautiful natural scene. Green is always a difficult color for me to edit; however, in this image, the green tones against the reddish tones on the mountain work beautifully together. The touch of blue sky completes the scene. Compositionally, well done. Posted: 08/05/2026 14:32:35
Bill Peake
Grace, this is a beautiful natural scene. I love the red color of the mountains and how it contrasts with the green of the pines on the lower part of the slope. I also like the framing of by the foreground trees on the right and the left. Like the others, I can't really see the fire. I think you should probably clone out the little part of the tree at the bottom foreground. The background of the image seems a little soft to me where the foreground is quite sharp. I saw your settings and I would have said your wide f/2.8 is creating a narrow depth of field, but I'm not sure your phone app gives you control over that. Some phone apps let you touch the part of the image you want to focus on but I have never used an iPhone so I'm not sure what the camera app lets you do. You could try to a light sharpening of the trees in the background using a mask to try to fix that. I have had some success using that with soft images in the past. Posted: 08/08/2026 19:20:32
Tracy Kaminer
Grace, You say, "This shot, with the flames shooting in the air, is the most dramatic." I don't see the flames shooting in the air, so I wanted to ask if this image is the one you intended to post. Thank you. Posted: 08/10/2026 19:36:02
Tracy Kaminer
Now that I look at it some more, I see some structures that might be burned and a station wagon next to them. Maybe that's the fire scene. Posted: 08/14/2026 13:49:43
Adi Ben-Senior
I like the composition and and execution. The edit is very good. The low contrast keeps it very real life like. Very well done !
Posted: 08/14/2026 00:32:08
