Grand Teton National Park: Fiery Sunset

The sky is on fire. Behind the jagged Teton ridgeline, sunset clouds tear across the page in rolling bands of orange, scarlet, and deep navy, and a low sun dropping behind the conifers sets the whole horizon glowing.

Below, a still lake mirrors all of it back — peaks, fire-clouds, treeline — so the composition is essentially split in half by the water's edge and rendered twice. The mountain itself stays cool (steel blue, ice white) and lets the sky and the reflection do the dramatic work.

A theatrical, fire-and-ice composition. The complementary clash of orange against blue is baked in; the colorist mostly just has to commit to it.