Sky Island

Another boring day, another typical sight out of the window: a sky island!

Okay-okay, I'll explain what this is, in case it's confusing: this is a landscape (skyscape?) featuring an inversion in the mountains, where the clouds sit below the peaks. The "island" is another mountain peak covered by evergreens and located closer to me, the photographer. 

The surreal quality of this image—both the pastel colors and the unusual subject matter—actually remind me of Russian fairy tales that begin by describing rivers of milk and shores of kissel (a fruit drink). 

The Devil's in the...

Normally, I prefer to capture landscapes with the broadest reach or the widest angle possible, often using a fish-eye lens. Yet, with all these late-autumn inversions (and partial inversions) in the mountains, I've changed my tactic a bit and switched to a telephoto. This way, I've been able to focus on the often-downplayed details, like the yellowing tamaracks reflecting in the water or the wispy clouds floating just above it.

Inversion (Mobile)

When the Gray tries to swallow the mountains whole, but they come out on top, literally, we call it an "inversion." In this particular case, the Gray couldn't get the peaks, but it did eat the entire lake.