nandadevieast's photostream  

I have seen all kinds of pictures of panchchulis.

The golden sunset. Such a classic that everyone wants to come back with a similar shot.

White peaks against a deep blue sky. This is the easiest to photograph...you have to just point your camera and look the other way.

The 'sunbeams' shot, taken just before the sun rises. This one is the most sought after, but makes you leave the bed too early on a chilly morning.

I reached munsiyari with these in my mind's eye, and was completely unprepared for what you see above. Well, i'm not talking about the picture, but the scene.

An invisible sun had turned a post-rain and somewhat-clear-yet-clouded late evening sky into a delicate soft box, painting the peaks in silver.

Difficult to articulate, and impossible to photograph.

There were so many fine and subtle tones, but somehow visible only to the eye and not the camera. While my eyes were witnessing a most terrific scene, all my camera could see was a blue-grey wall.

It was a nightmarish low-contrast scene, well within capabilities (read dynamic range) of the most modest cameras, but something even the best cameras will turn into a mush (read lack of detail).

To me, these are some of the most difficult scenes to photograph and some of the most processing unfriendly. You can't even touch the contrast. Best to dial down everything and hope for the best.

Well, this is the best i could get, as close to reality as possible, yet not quite there.