"The Queen of KGL"

Sharing one afternoon from the Kashmiri Himalayas, as the iconic Gadsar lake from the Kashmir Great Lakes trek basks under the sun, surrounded by breathtaking meadowlands.

As for the place, Kashmir Great Lakes, aka KGL, is a region comprising stunning alpine scenery and 7 pristine high-altitude lakes right in the lap of the Kashmir Himalayas. These lakes are surrounded by picturesque landscapes, including snow-capped peaks, lush meadows, and vibrant flora, making the KGL trek one of the most scenic trekking routes in India.

Due to inclement weather, the place opens for a brief window during the monsoon season in India and is thronged by trekkers and photography enthusiasts in equal elan and numbers.

Needless to say, this lake is the queen of them all. Blame it on the pristine water or the very scenes around it. Hence, making a memorable frame of this lake was always an agenda on my mind while I trekked there. Speaking of composition, I wanted to capture both the sheer scale and the dynamism of the scene in terms of water and cloud movements. I spotted this nook where the stream was flowing into the lake, acting as a perfect leading line into the scene. The choice was obvious.

Choosing base ISO of 100, a narrow aperture (f/13) to render frame entirely sharp as well as to enable some slower shutter speed was an automatic call. As for the shutter speed, I wanted to capture the flow of clouds as well as retain some texture in the flowing water. So I decided upon 5 odd seconds of shutter instead of a very long exposure. A 6-stop ND was used to prevent overexposure, as the frame was made in broad daylight.

Later in processing, basic adjustments to tune contrast, colour and sharpness were performed in Adobe Photoshop.

Selective dodge and burn were applied to elevate the tonal contrast in the image. So, here's the outcome.