Who Needs Words, Anyway?

You know how they say a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, this one feels like it’s worth more than a thousand, to me. Way more. (Priceless, really. Just stunning.)

Via “National Geographic’s” Photo of the Day (almost exactly one year ago):

Trees stand like guardians at the top of Lake Wakatipu on New Zealand’s South Island. Says Brad Grove, a member of our Your Shot community: “I first discovered these trees by the Glenorchy jetty back in April 2011 and had never really been happy with my efforts to shoot them.” Grove achieved this HDR image in June 2012, after approaching the trees from a different direction. “It was minus 4 [degrees Celsius] on a very cold morning, and the sun had just broken the horizon behind me,” he says. “The composition fell into place, and I took seven exposures hoping I had enough data to produce the image I could see in my head.”

What a breathtakingly photogenic place. And I’m a sucker for reflections; always have been. And while I wouldn’t have thought it was -4°C at the time, there is a clarity and coldness to the image (and to the fog) that I really enjoy.

The blame for that jaw-dropping-ness must be laid at least somewhat at the feet of the photographer Grove, however, whose page on the NG site is almost as much fun as his personal site. Almost. I took a few minutes to browse through his galleries this morning — just long enough to realize that his eye had as much to do with that extraordinary image as the spectacular locale. He tends to work in extreme contrast, which a) I like, but b) is not as obvious in this particular landscape image as it is in his other images. But there’s a lot to love. His “People” are wonderful; his “Still Lifes” the kinds of images that remind me of why I picked up the camera in the first place. …and of how far I have yet to go. (My favorites, though? Definitely the “Boats.”)

A Side (and Really Cool) Note: “What is so fascinating about this place, apart from the beautiful landscape surrounding it, is the bizarre rising and falling of the water level, which changes on a daily basis. Indeed, every day the water level of the lake rises and falls roughly about 12 cm every five minutes. It’s as if the lake was breathing.” (A phenomenon described more technically as “a seiche period of 26.7 minutes which, in Queenstown Bay, causes the water level to rise and fall some 200 millimetres.)

Also, This: “It is a backdrop for several scenes in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, including Amon Hen.”