Dan Kasprzak
October 2026 - Alpenglow at 35,000 Feet
About the Image(s)
Taken from a window seat on a red-eye flight from King Salmon to Anchorage, Alaska, over the Chugach range.
The range was still in night shadow, but the summit caught the first light before sunrise.
Shot handheld through the aircraft window (Nikon Z6). Exposed for the bright snow and let the shadows go dark on purpose ??”
the contrast between the lit summit and the dark range is the whole image.
The blue is natural twilight, not a filter.
8 comments posted
Beautiful image, and I think it's a great accomplishment to get such a clean-looking image from the window of a plane. The deep blue is gorgous. Posted: 10/05/2026 18:49:54
Wow - spectacular image - perfectly exposed! Do you recall how you metered this scene? Really well exposed - not an easy scene to capture. The clouds and detail on the mountains add. I would have never suspected this was shot through an airplane window. It would make a great print. I've never printed on metal - but this is kind of image that would pop on that surface. Likely nothing you could have done - but I wish the left and right edges of the land mass were visible. Posted: 10/05/2026 21:35:37
I know i metered off the center mass of the mountain and under exposed a 1/2 stop. Set in aperture priority. Used a tamron 70-300 lens. stuck the lens right up against the window and clicked off three shots. Due to being in the middle of the plane, had to work around the wing and engine but with the back view finder nothing a bit moving around couldn't fix Posted: 10/05/2026 21:53:39
Very striking image! And very well done! Under-exposing worked out very well, and the twilight blue is amazing. Also amazing that you could get so much sharp detail through the aircraft window. I like Steven's idea of a metal print. Posted: 10/05/2026 22:21:49
(Groups 21 & 42 & 71)
Wow! Dan, this image really pops. Surprised it is thru an airplane window. I love it centered and it is extremely sharp and detailed. This should be on your wall at home. Posted: 10/14/2026 13:18:06
Yes, I agree. Wonderful image. I am, however, somewhat confused. In your original statement you state that you exposed for the bright snow. In your comments to Steven, you state that you underexposed the image by 1/2 stop. I would think that you metered the bright snow, and knowing that your meter would want to move the snow to 50% grey you would have overexposed to compensate. Am I wrong? Posted: 10/19/2026 20:55:35
After i re read the original title, i chose the wrong word. Exposed should have been edited instead of exposed. As for the metering, you are not wrong. Snow or anything close to pure white is tricky for the camera. Normally going +1 full stop works well. However, this photo taken in mid air and maybe the window material, it didnt work at +1ev. Luckily i shot a bracketed shot and the - 1/2 stop worked the best for my editing. Posted: 10/19/2026 22:08:41
Thanks for the explanation. Posted: 10/19/2026 23:25:35