Zhangjiajie Cloud Sea — Sandstone Pillars Dawn

Description

Zhangjiajie’s sandstone pillar formation — the inspiration for the floating mountains of the film Avatar — photograph at their most extraordinary when the valley cloud sea rises to the pillar bases at dawn, creating the visual illusion that the rock columns are floating on cloud. The cloud sea forms most reliably in autumn mornings when humid air from the lowlands rises and condenses at the pillar height. This image was made from the Yuanjiajie plateau overlook at 5:30am during a well-established cloud sea — the valley below completely occluded, the pillar summits emerging above the cloud surface at various heights depending on the pillars’ elevation. Shot on a 70-200mm telephoto at f/8, the compression of multiple pillar layers through successive cloud gaps creates the appearance of infinite depth. The forested pillar summits provide warm green tones against the white cloud and blue sky.