Colorado Springs, Colorado.

First, a quick note: We are traveling all of October 2024, so internet access will likely be sparse. If I am slow to respond to comments, it’s due to my lack of connectivity. More on that journey in the months to come.

One of our favorite train rides is the Cog Train from Manitou Springs to the top of Pike’s Peak. This historic train has been climbing Pike’s Peak since 1891. The scenery is spectacular along the way, and the train has been modernized in recent years.

Lake Moraine is located on the eastern slopes of Pikes Peak, easily visible from the train. Unfortunately, it’s important to note that the lake is closed to the public because it sits on land managed by Colorado Springs Utilities as a source of drinking water. In the past, a lake house and a route to the summit of Pikes Peak went by the lake. Unfortunately, this area is now off-limits. The natural beauty of the lake nestled in the valley can still be enjoyed by taking the train.

About the photo: I captured the image on my Samsung S23U, which was set in automatic mode. The camera chose f/1.7 at 1/900 sec. and ISO 10. When I first loaded the image into Adobe Lightroom Classic, I was surprised that the sky was blown out with bright blue. The histogram showed a blue clipping indication on the far right. It’s unusual for me to see anything but white being overexposed.

The image first required rotating a bit to level the horizon, and then I sent it to Luminar Neo to work on the blue clipping problem. My first step in Luminar Neo almost always starts with the Develop module. I used the AI Mask tool to separate the significant components of the image and then selected the sky. I reduced the exposure in the sky, which reduced the intensity of blue so that it would no longer clip in the histogram. I might have simply entered the Color module to reduce the blue, but often, I find the need to tweak other exposure settings, so I go to the Develop module first. It worked out that a reduced exposure was all that was needed. Again, isolating the sky and inverting the mask, I used Accent AI to raise the exposure in the foreground and in the shadows of the many clouds that were directly shading the mountain in the background. You can click on the image above to pixel-peep in 2K HD on my Flickr site.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s also acceptable. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner