Buckeye, Arizona.
On a cool January day, we enjoyed the usual Arizona sunshine, but for the last couple of days, intermittent rain showers rolled through the Phoenix metro. On the road back from a trip to Skyline Park, I noticed Estrella Mountain in the distance. With the normal level of air quality in the metro, there is usually a haze obscuring a clear view of the mountain from here. The rains, however, have washed the air, and the namesake of the Estrella Mountains was unusually clear in the distance.
About the photo: Captured with my Samsung S20U in 108 MP mode, the image was a lot wider and taller than providing just a view of the mountain. With a 12,000×9,000 pixel image, I was able to crop to include only the mountain and its immediate foreground. Even so, I still had a 5700×3200 pixel image to process.
I used my usual tools in Adobe Lightroom and Luminar AI to finish the work, then reduced the image to 2048 pixels on the long side, the size I use for posting panoramic images on the blog. As usual, if your browser supports the function, you can click on the image to enlarge it.
John Steiner
Wow, you got a very dramatic sky. Great image, John.
thank you! Around Phoenix, dramatic skies like this aren’t that common!
This is a beautiful shot!
Thanks for the compliment and for taking the time to stop by and comment!
I so enjoy your pictures!
Indeed, the shape of the mountain is very clear.
Phoenix air quality is hit and miss. Lots of people and lots of industry so haze and smog is not uncommon. After those occasional rains, we are treated to haze-free skies for a few days.