Golden Hour on Kanchenjunga, Lamuney Campsite

Lamuney sits at around 4,150 metres and is the last campsite on the Goechala trek before the final push to the viewpoints. By late afternoon the temperature was already dropping fast, and most people had retreated into their tents. I stayed outside with the camera because the clouds had been building all day and I had a feeling the light would do something worth watching.

It did. The sun dropped low enough to turn everything above the ridge line gold. Kanchenjunga — 8,586 metres of rock and ice — lit up like it was on fire. The clouds wrapped around the summit and caught the same light, turning orange and yellow against the deep blue sky behind them. The whole thing lasted maybe ten minutes before the colour drained out and the mountain went grey again.

At 55mm on the X-T30, the peak filled the frame. I shot at f/11 to keep the ridges sharp front to back. ISO had to come up to 2500 because the light was going fast, but that is the trade-off you make at altitude in November — you take what the mountain gives you, when it gives it.