Massive monsoon thunderheads stretch up to the stratosphere above the already lofty summit of Nuptse at 7861m (25,791 ft). The Himalya have a way of making one feel small and insignificant like nowhere else I have experienced. The mountains just seem impossibly high in the sky, the landscape impossibly big. The wall in front of me here climbs 2.8km (1.73mi) vertically from the valley floor. The shot is taken just before sunrise from Kala Pattar at 5545m (18192 ft). At 5500m you have exactly 50% of the oxygen available at sea level. Nuptse sits two km WSW of Mount Everest. Khumbu region of the Mahalangur Himal, Nepalese Himalayas, Nepal. Taken with Fuji Velvia slide film.
The sun peaks between branches with its intensity reduced by thick smoke from approaching bush-fires. The sun had a similar appearance to the naked eye, this is a single exposure which no use of neutral density filters or otherwise. Laguna, Wollombi Valley, NSW, Australia
The moon setting over the misty predawn ridges of Yengo National Park, Laguna, NSW, Australia
