| I stayed at the Rongbuk Monastery guesthouse, just a few miles short of Everest Base Camp, for three days hoping for great light on the highest mountain in the world. For three sunrises I got up early, and for three sunsets I stayed out late. What I got for my efforts were six cases of the most boring light I can imagine. I was sorely disappointed. I was also rather ill from the 17,000' altitude, even though I had tried to be careful about acclimatizing slowly to this elevation. After one of the boring sunsets I set my tripod up next to the wall of the monastery for shelter from the raging wind, braced my tripod legs with rocks, and opened the shutter for a long time exposure. I thought it was still too early in the evening to take the photo, that there would be so much ambient light that a long exposure would be blown out, but I was too miserable to wait. After opening the shutter I went to the guesthouse kitchen for a reviving cup of hot yak butter tea and a meal. I sat in the kitchen for 45 minutes trying to warm up and feel better, to no avail. I needed to go to bed, so I went and fetched my camera, never expecting the image to come out. When I saw this image on the light table back in the States, I was stunned. I couldn't have timed it any better. |
Timothy Edberg / 6511 Homestake Dr. South / Bowie, MD
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