The fires burning in the Swan Range blew up at the dinner hour yesterday, fairly typical behavior for forest fires. I shot the images below from my yard NW of Kalispell using a 105mm lens. The first two images are the same frame, shot through a polarizer. The first is full color, the second is a conversion to black and white using a process that simulates a deep red filter. I shot the third image with a Hoya 72 infrared filter, adjusting the contrast to bring out the details of the smoke plume. Note how far the plume has blown in just three minutes, and how the lower cloud of smoke is much darker. The trees at left are bending from the wind.
