The frozen tundras of the arctic. In many aspects its environment can be one of the most grueling and tortuous areas on this planet. Forever testing the wills of both man and animals alike the sub-zero temperatures constantly lick at your body like frozen whips as you make your way through this frozen wasteland. As you brave your way through this inhospitable land, you are then granted the sight of your life. The rising light of the sun slowly begins to caress the surface of the icy landscape, and illuminates the scene for you to behold. The sparkling ice crystals that once fell before you as an obstacle, now lay about you to create a frozen mural for you to gaze upon. With icy white paint, nature has bestowed upon you an almost living portrait, breathing life about the environment for all creatures both large and small to entice themselves in the spectacle. Watching the fainting lights of the sun dancing gently upon the reflective surfaces of the ice and snow is a genuine feast for the senses. Few sights upon this earth grant an individual with such a feeling of serenity as well as piece of mind as these, and when said scene has been experienced by someone it is truly something that you will never forget for the rest of your life. Dancing flames above the Ice, created by the rather talented photographer *autumn-ethereal, grants us such a view without the toil of enduring the cold winds of the tundras. Combining the warming intensity of the sun above and the frozen wastes of the tundras below in a completely new light that is easily capable of garnering the attention of any viewer and leaving them their as if frozen before its beauty.

Just with one simple glance at this photograph, once can easily see the great amount of effort that was placed into taking and setting up this piece. The brightness and contrasting balance perfectly compliment the structure of the composition without appearing overbearing in some parts or even dominating parts of the piece to make it appear unbalanced. From the beautiful colors above the scene down to the frozen environment underneath, this piece has managed to generate an outstanding equilibrium of the "hot and cold" concept that backs it's composition. The clouds and light above the land dancing in the sky as if they are the passionate flames of mother nature bursting forth to illuminate the frozen world beneath its licking embers, as the icy world almost seems to bask in its glow as if it wishes to be warmed by its light and rejuvenate itself under its warmth. To have taken such a shot takes quite a bit of photographic talent and patience, both things that both this image and its photographer appear to exude from every single part of their beings.

If there was one small thing I could suggest for this piece would have been to try and experimented with various angles on the piece. Perhaps by doing so, you could have captured the flames in the sky in not only a calming effect but perhaps in a more dynamic light in themselves. Another thought would have been to try a slight depth of field effect to focus more on the larger rock formation in the foreground, better emphasizing the icier core of the entire as well as capturing a completely different personality within the whole composition. Just by experimentation we are able to come up so many more possibilities for our works even after they have been completed.

In a sense, hot and cold work almost hand in hand with each other despite being vastly different elements. In many was they have shown to exist in a more natural harmony that others would normally see them in. Dancing flames above the Ice does an outstanding job of capturing said harmony and immortalizing the act before us into a singular photograph. With a beautiful presentation of both landscape and atmosphere, as well as beautiful natural coloring and composition, this piece is easily worthy of any viewer or collection. Great work on this piece autumn-ethereal, and I look forward to many more of your piece in the near future.