Mt. Kilimanjaro emerges from the mist at dusk. This shot was taken from a place called "The Junction", below Barafu Hut. We camped here after summitting in the morning.

EOS 1-N, 70-200L @ 200mm, Fuji Velvia.

-- James Tarquin (jtarquin@usa.net), September 02, 1999

Answers

There is to my mind only one picture of Mt.Kilimanjaro that is impressive, the one looking accross the plains and it rises about them and has the clouds and snow cap and shows the whole mountain. Show this to someone who does not know you, or the title and ask them to tell you where it is, it could be almost anywhere. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), September 03, 1999.

This ia a beautiful photograph. I don't care that is isn't instantly recognizable to someone who hasn't been there. The light is excellent, the mist surrounding the mountain is excellent. The snow is properly exposed. The dark foreground silhouettes nicely against the mountain.

Think outside the box Pat.

-- Darron Spohn (sspohn@concentric.net), September 03, 1999.

Personally, I prefer that it not be instantly recognizable as Kilimanjaro, which is why I didn't put 'Kilimanjaro' in the picture title.

The cliche picture of Kilimanjaro is taken from Amboseli National Park, across the border in Kenya. You know the one: endless grassy plains gently slope up to form the Kibo massif. If you are lucky, you get an elephant or a giraffe in the foreground to exaggerate the exotic location. That shot has been done enough times by other people. Certainly, it is a great scenic vista. I would have loved to go to Amboseli to see it for myself.

But it is not the only way to photograph the mountain. And I don't think that every photo of Kili should be recognizeable..."Oh! Now that definitely looks like Kilimanjaro to me! Look how the giraffe is walking across the grassy plain in front of the big volcano!"

-- James Tarquin (jtarquin@usa.net), September 03, 1999.

You asked for a critique, you got one. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), September 03, 1999.

Please. Please. Critique the photo!

But to say that it doesn't look like your favorite Kili photo...seems a bit silly to me. It would be one thing to point out that it is poorly composed, or the exposure is not right, or the subject is not compelling. But ya know, not every photo of a mountain in africa needs to have wild animals in the foreground.

I don't know...Does that sound unreasonable? It just doesn't seem necessary that ALL photos of Kilimanjaro should look exactly alike!

-- James Tarquin (admin@jtarquin.com), September 06, 1999.