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“Fire on the Flats” – Salt Creek Flats, Death Valley National Park, CA

 Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, California, Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, Death Valley Photography, Desert, Lightroom, National Parks, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Reflections, Robert H Clark Photography, Salt Flats, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset, Water  1 Response »
Jul 222012
 

Fire on the Flats • Salt Creek Flats, Death Valley National Park, CA

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today I am bringing you a little color and a little intensity. The image was shot on the Salt Creek Flats, a large expansive playa of heat tortured earth. Here in the summer the temperatures can reach well over 115 degrees. The heat leaches the salt and minerals from the soil which leaves the earth with a myriad of patterns, salt circles, ruptured soil, and the occasional pool of water. In the winter, when this shot was made, the temperature is more moderate and in fact very pleasant. Alec John, Travis Bechtel, and I spent several days exploring and shooting in the flats. It is a habit we have to shoot and scout locations multiple times in order to get to know the conditions and find interesting compositions. This was made on the evening of our second visit to this area. We had experienced amazing clouds through out the day and geared up for a potential “special event” for sunset. We were not disappointed. The clouds thinned along the western horizon and cleared the way for the sun to really light up the clouds moving in from the east. A large amorphous dragon-like cloud began to spread out over the playa and I began to look for a location to pick up a nice foreground and some water to capture the intense reflections of t he cloud. I found this beautiful round pool rimmed by puckered soil and a rime of salt. I began to shoot as the color started to happen. The intensity built till it looked as if the entire cloud was on fire. About fifteen minutes later it was all over as the flats entered the twilight zone of darkness.

How I Made the Shot: As a matter of photographic practice I often use a series of graduated split neutral density filters in my work. The filters allow me to balance the exposure in high contrast scenes such as this shot. Here the sky was well over 4 stops brighter than the foreground. So a split would allow me to expose for the foreground and hold back the sky creating a balance exposure. But on this trip I was experimenting without using filters. To capture the full range of light I made bracketed exposures-usually 5 stops but sometime 7, in the following increments: -2/-1/0/+1/+2 or -3/-2/-1/0/+1/+2/+3. In this way I was assured of having the data I needed to make blended exposures in Photoshop. I have found on recent shoots that I prefer this method as I not so intent on fumbling with the filters and instead looking at the light and watching it unfold. I can set the bracket sets on the camera and freely shoot. Back in the digital darkroom I can process the RAW files and bring them into Photoshop for blending. In this case I only needed two RAW files, one for the sky and one for the foreground, to make the final master.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

ers allow me to balance

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Folds in the Earth – Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, Ca.

 California, Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, Death Valley Photography, Desert, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, National Parks, Photography Composition, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography  No Responses »
Jul 012012
 

Folds in the Earth • Zabriskie Point, Death Valley National Park, Ca.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Zabriskie Point in Death Valley National Park might be one of the most photographed iconographic locations in the United States. The reasons for this a pretty simple; access. Just a quick jaunt up the path to the overlook and you are looking at one of the most incredible scenes in the American landscape. Like multi-colored neapolitan ice cream sinuous folds of earth rise and fall, spreading outwards to the Red Wall and Manly Beacon. To get a sense of the place please take at look at one of my past posts here: http://roberthclarkphotographyblog.com/2012/06/02/twilight-at-zabriskie-point-death-valley-national-park-ca/.

Sometimes when faced with such a grand landscape, or a landscape that has been oft photographed, you can get a different perspective by focusing on a part of the overall scene. By isolating the scene and cutting out most of the overall subject it is possible to show a unique view of a place. An effective way to do this is to use a telephoto to change the focal length of the shot. Dial in the shot, move back, change shooting positions, watch the light, look for interesting patterns, shapes, and colors. All of these methods are ways to get more creative and come away with more than the standard shot. For this scene I used a 70-200mm lens to create an image to compress the folds of earth that lead up to the Zabriskie Overlook. Beautiful late afternoon light was high-lighting the folds and created an interesting rhythm in the landscape. The light was pretty soft, tempered by some high clouds, as if the landscape was illuminated by a giant softbox. This revealed the beautiful highlights and kept the shadows open as well.

Of course I did shoot the classic shot. Who can resist when presented with such a fantastic landscape. But the next time you go make sure to try some alternative shots. Get creative. You never know what you might come back with.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bob

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Twilight over the Sinking Ship – Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

 Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon Photography, Grand Circle, High Dynamic Range, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, National Parks, Photography Composition, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, sunset, Twilight Photography, Wide Angle Photography  1 Response »
Mar 102012
 

Twilight over the Sinking Ship • Grand Canyon National Park, AZ.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Just a short post today featuring a recent image from a February trip to the South of the Grand Canyon. I was there for some NPS work but got out for a little photography in between meetings and surveys. To say I had some incredible weather would be an understatement. I have been to the canyon many times but I have never had the sustained atmospheric conditions I witnessed on this trip. On successive days clouds rolled over the canyon creating dynamic and dramatic light. Clouds passed over the buttes and also dropped into below the rim to drift in and out of the formations. In the evening the clouds moved up allowing beautiful twilight shooting conditions.

This image was shot at one of my “secret”, favorite shooting locations along the South Rim. A short little off-trail scramble brings you to a series of rocky ledges that affords eastern and western views within the canyon. Looking east you can see the giant mass of Coronado Butte, and west affords incredible views of the Sinking Ship formation, aptly named as it appears to be an ocean liner sinking into the water. This image of the Sinking Ship was shot about 10 minutes into civil twilight. The clouds had begun to lift and some subtle re-lighting illuminated the foreground rocks and large buttress to the right. I used these elements to frame the vista to the Sinking Ship.

Technical Details: This image is a composite of two exposures, one for the sky and one for the foreground. The two files were processed in Lightroom and opened as layers in Photoshop. The two files were hand blended using a luminosity layer mask before completing the usual contrast and color layers I typically employ.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Stool and Windows – Lonaconing Silk Mill, Lonaconing, Maryland

 Abstracts, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Architectural Photography, Architecture, Lightroom, Lightroom Enfuse, Lonaconing Silk Mill, Maryland, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography  No Responses »
Feb 272012
 

Stool and Windows • Lonaconing Silk Mill, Lonaconing, Maryland

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This image, along with many more, was made this past weekend on a shooting excursion to the Lonaconing Silk Mill. The trip was arranged by Tony Sweet and a group of us including my WV shooting pal Mark Muse, made the trek to Lonaconing, Maryland to photograph the old mill. The mill closed down in 1957 and has been abandoned ever since. It is like a time machine inside. Virtually everything from machines, tools, spools, and equipment was left in place and intact. It is three floors of photographic fun. The lighting inside the mill is very diffused and in most cases required multiple exposures to capture the dynamic range of the light.

I found this little stool in the basement and framed it against the beautiful light of the large windows. The image is a blend of four separate exposures, each one processed in Lightroom, and then blended together with Lightroom Enfuse. Each exposure was made 1-stop apart. The resulting file included all the information necessary to capture the full range of light within the space. This was a fantastic shooting trip and I will be posting more images as I process the files.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Twisted Tree and Winter Light – South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

 Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon Photography, Grand Circle, High Dynamic Range, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Lightroom Enfuse, Moab Masters, National Parks, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, sunrise, Trees, Winter  3 Responses »
Feb 242012
 

Twisted Tree and Winter Light • South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am currently sorting through about 3000 exposures from my last trip. I have been shooting differently on my last few outings which includes more bracketing of shots for manual blending in Photoshop. I am after more dynamic range in the light and though the Photoshop work takes more effort I think the results are much better.

Today’s image was made from Maricopa Overlook on the Hermits Rest Road. During the winter months the Canyon stops the buses and visitors are able to drive on the Hermits Rest Road which makes access to some of the more dramatic overlooks easy. On this morning there was a fairly heavy cloud cover and I was not to hopeful for a sunrise shot. It was also quite cold at 16 degrees. Still recovering from pneumonia I was not to eager to leave the warm car or my cup of hot tea. But a cold fog had descended on this side of the Canyon and some of the trees were painted with a coat of light hoar frost. No matter how I played with the compositions I just “wasn’t feeling it”. I found this gnarly tree on the walk back to the car just as a bit of soft sunlight began to break through the cloud bank. The yellow glow as very nice and gave a nice halo around the top of tree. So I began to work with this composition placing the top of the tree against this light. In post processing I used several Selective Color Layers to target the Reds, Yellows, Blues, and Whites and followed up with a Dodge and Burn Layer to sculpt the form of the tree. The amazing contortions in the tree truck are testimony to the harsh environment along the South Rim. Beaten by wind, snow, and cold temperatures in the winter this tree is an amazing survivor. In a funny way the tree became a metaphor for how I felt-not feeling well, but surviving.

Technical Details: This image is a blend of three exposures using Enfuse for Lightroom. It was composed for three exposure, one for mid-tones, one for highlights, and one for shadows. The resulting file is sent to Photoshop for final finishing. I like Enfuse as it prepares a very natural looking file without the artifacts that can come from HDR Software. You can get the plugin from The Photographers Toolbox.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Liquid Light • Salt Creek, Death Valley National Park, California

 Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Badwater, Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, Death Valley Photography, Desert, High Dynamic Range, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, National Parks, Photography Composition, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Salt Flats, sunset, Twilight Photography  4 Responses »
Jan 202012
 

Liquid Light • Salt Creek, Death Valley National Park, Ca.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This will be my last post for about a week or so. I am heading out to the Grand Canyon for a combination work and shooting trip. I will be at the South Rim for a few days and then heading up to Page for a trip into Canyon X and some photo exploration with Tony Kuyper. The 10-day weather forecast looks promising to finally get into Canyon X. I was thwarted on my last attempt when a large front moved over the Page area killing off all the light. Tony and I are planning a little exploration of the Painted Desert and a jaunt through Cathedral Wash down to the Colorado River.

Today’s image is affectionately named “Liquid Light”. This was shot on my recent trip to Death Valley with my pals Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel. As you may have noticed from recent posts we were blessed with incredible shooting conditions, amazing light, and clouds. Epic clouds to be more exact. This image, shot at Salt Creek, was made in the late afternoon as the sun was setting over the Panamint Range, just behind my camera position. The sky event was happening on both sides and it was difficult to choose where to shoot. There were just so many options. The three of us must have looked like ants after a picnic basket as we scurried about framing compositions. The clouds sent long tendrils over the salt flats. Driven by upper level winds the clouds resembled a liquid spill in the sky. As the sun moved lower reflected light illuminated the clouds and carried their reflection in the water below. Sky and earth seemed to meld into one. We continued to shoot well into Civil Twilight just enjoying the light show.

Technical Details: This image is a blend of two bracketed exposures. One for the foreground and one for the sky. Each image was processed in Adobe Lightroom and opened as layers in Photoshop for final work. I created a Channel Mask to seamlessly blend the two exposures before applying my final curves and color adjustments.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll see you back here soon.

Bob

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A Thin Line of Light – Salt Creek, Death Valley National Park, Ca

 California, Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, Death Valley Photography, Desert, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset, Twilight Photography  2 Responses »
Jan 152012
 

A Thin Line of Light, Death Valley National Park, Ca

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. The other day I glanced at the image count in the Lightroom Database for all the shots I took on my recent Death Valley trip. Alec, Travis and I had 8 total shooting sessions. The amount of time we shot during each session varied based on the quality of the light. In general though we shoot early morning sunrise and late afternoon to evening sunset. During the day we scouted, ate, downloaded and backed up images, and other housekeeping details. So the final image count which included brackets of the same shot to ensure I had all the data needed to process the RAW files was 1795 shots. That works out to an average of 224.375 shots per shooting session. I am still scratching my head on this one. The numbers from the camera do not lie. But I for the life of me just do not remember shooting that much. But in a recent discussion with Alec we did conclude that the overall quality of light and shooting conditions we encountered was extraordinary. In addition Death Valley offers so many compositional possibilities. The end result we surmise was a perfect storm of shooting conditions.

Of course this does not mean that every shot I took was a winner. This is far from possible. But there were a lot. And Alec and Travis and I do agree that pound for pound we all got more keepers than we normally would get on an average shooting trip. The trip was also a bit of a departure for me in terms of how I shot. I began to look beyond just the shot and consider the processing possibilities. In the past, and this is based largely on my days with a 4 x 5 camera, I would seek to capture intact the shot I saw. I used whatever filters and other conventional means at the time to effect that capture. In Death Valley, save for occasional use of my trusty Warming Polarizer, I left all my filters in the bag. I did not employ a single Split Neutral Density. Instead of fumbling with the filters I was free to really shoot and explore potential compositions. And apparently shoot I did. The door opened and a thin line of light led me down a different path. I set my camera to record bracket sets in one-stop, and on occasion 2/3-stop, increments, composed and shot. The freedom allowed me time to watch the light and react to changing conditions. Quite honestly it was liberating.

Today’s image came from one of my bracket sets. I passed this over several times before returning to process the RAW files. Here I was drawn to the convergence of lines of water into a single flow that disappeared into the horizon. The water was beautifully illuminated by the rising sun, and for me, came to represent my new path. I do not know how long I will be here. Such is the nature of photography. But for now I will just follow the light.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Sunset in the Alabama Hills – Lone Pine, Ca

 Adobe Lightroom, Alabama Hills, California, Death Valley, Desert, High Dynamic Range, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Mountains, Photography Technique, Robert H Clark Photography, sunset, The Alabama Hills, Twilight Photography, Wide Angle Photography  1 Response »
Jan 102012
 

Sunset in the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, Ca.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. On my recent trip to Death Valley my intrepid friends Alec Johnson, Travis Bechtel and I were kindly treated to some amazing sunrise and sunset conditions. This is the kind of light and cloud cover you hope to have for at least one shooting session. We had it everyday save for one, and that was the last morning we shot at Zabriske Point. Today’s image defines some of the incredible skies we had during our shooting excursions. The image was made in the Alabama Hills, a collection of rock monoliths and boulder fields, situated above the town of Lone, Pine, Ca. The area is known as the Gateway to Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states. On the trip over from Death Valley we saw the clouds build up and once we dropped into the valley on the eastern side of the Sierra’s we knew we might be in for another treat. Well, we were not disappointed. The show ramped up in the late afternoon and soon went into overload as the sun disappeared behind the massive Sierra Range. For a very brief period of time the light flattened out on the landscape but within 10 minutes into Civil Twilight the scene re-lighted and the rocks glowed with the reflected light from the sky. By this time all of us had spread out to compose and shoot. Even after an afternoon of scouting it was a hectic time as we were scrambling to create memorable images. To give you a sense of scale if you look between the “crab claw” formation you will just make out the silhouette of my buddy Travis. We only had one afternoon to spend here and for all of us it was not enough. But we left invigorated by the experience and the place.

Technical Details: As you might imagine the dynamic range of this scene was pretty intense. To compensate I made a five shot bracket at 1 stop intervals and chose two images from the set to process. The two RAW files, one for the foreground and one for the sky, were processed in Lightroom and combined in Photoshop using a Channel Mask for blending. From there it followed my usual workflow of masks, color corrections, and sharpening.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Rocks and Huckleberry – Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia

 Dolly Sods Wilderness, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Nikon D3x, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Singh-Ray Filters, sunset, Twilight Photography, West Virginia  1 Response »
Oct 302011
 

Rocks and Huckleberry, Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Last week was quite busy. I made a quick photography trip into the West Virginia highlands with my shooting buddy, Mark Muse, and zipped up to New York to attend the PDN Photo PLus Expo. Both trips were exciting and fun but on different levels. Mark has been trying to get me up to the WV mountains for quite some time and quite honestly I have been somewhat resistant. Sometimes you can get into a mode of sameness which amounts to nothing more than excepting that which is more comfortable. I have spent the majority of my recent photography time in the west shooting slot canyons, deserts, and shorelines. These are subjects I love and which I have developed an affinity for shooting. My biggest complaint to Mark was West Virginia has too many trees. Now this may seem odd to all of you because after all, isn’t all landscape photography viable in all its varied forms? The fact is that I find many western landscapes, of the type I shoot, easier to isolate.  By this I mean that I am able to distill the view into a series of images that simplify the subject matter. Foreground, middle ground, and background all seemed to fall easily in to place. And of course there was no end to repeating shapes, leading lines, and other compositional elements. Subject matter here on the east coast, however, just seemed to elude me. Too many trees, too much complexity, and too much noise.

There is a complexity to Mark’s work that I have always admired. He takes these complex scenes and dials into them revealing the microscopic structure of the landscape-the trees, branches, stems, twigs, and leaves. They are a marvel of detail and subtlety. I love the images but at the same time hate them. Now before you think this harsh, my hate comes from my own internal roadblocks, my own inability to allow myself to see what Mark was seeing. I could see it in his finished work but with a camera in my hand, walking the landscape, the view was noise, not unlike the static of a TV set when the picture goes out.

The solution to this problem was easy. Just keep shooting what I like, and find comfortable, and my world will be fine. But the world, at least my world, does not work this way. Seeking the comfortable and avoiding the difficult will stifle growth. To continue to grow as photographers we must except new challenges. We must go into the landscapes we fear and confront them. Before I go further there are other things to consider. My “way” of shooting, and Mark’s way, are both outgrowths of our collective experiences, gleaned throughout our lives. Pretty heavy, I know, but it is true. What and how I see are different than Mark’s, and in fact, different than all the other photographers shooting today. Everyone one of us is drawn to different aspects of what we shoot. The patterns, textures, colors, light, compositional elements, compositional style, capture methods, processing methods, etc inform the what, how, where, and when of what we shoot. What I am getting at here is difficult to describe. The challenge for me was to not shoot what Mark shoots because that is not me. The challenge was to find my own voice, utilizing my experiential experiences, and vision, all in a landscape where I often wander with eyes wide open, like a deer in headlights, never taking the camera out of my pack.

Today’s image is one of many I took on my recent sojourn into the unknown. And guess what. The fear of the unknown is irrational. I did find much of the landscape daunting but this is a result of my unfamiliarity with my shooting locations. I don’t like everything I shot but I did break down some barriers of my preconceptions and find some compelling images and compositions I could appreciate. This image was taken at Dolly Sods, a wilderness area located at 4000 feet above sea level, on the Allegheny Front. It is a sub-alpine landscape of spruce forests, bogs and wetlands, and rock outcrops. Bear Rocks, located on the northern end, was our second stop during the shooting trip. To say that I only loved the place would not do it justice. It was fantastic. We had beautiful light, dappled and hazy, almost arctic like, with high cirrus clouds. It was complex and noisy but I found structure in the fantastic rocks that could anchor my compositions. Study this image and you can see many of the elements I talk about in my blog posts. I found many successful images that evening and I know that I missed quite a few. But that will draw me back. Yes fear of the unknown is irrational.

Technical Details: This image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm at 17mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/2 of a second. A 3-stop Singh-Ray, soft edge, split neutral density was used to balance the sky and foreground exposure. The RAW image was processed in Lightroom and finished in Photoshop.

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Twilight on the Shenandoah – Harpers Ferry, WV

 Harpers Ferry, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, National Parks, Nikon D3x, River, Robert H Clark Photography, Shenandoah River, sunset, Twilight Photography, Water, West Virginia  No Responses »
Oct 202011
 

Twilight on the Shenandoah, Harpers Ferry, WV. Image shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 24mm PC lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 30 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. We have had quite a variety in the weather department over the last few weeks. Though fall has officially arrived the color in the leaves has been somewhat uninspiring due to wet conditions, warm afternoons, and wind. All this has combined to keep the trees on life support so to speak and has negated any possible color intensity. What we need now is a good hard frost to really kick start the leaves. But I am afraid this year may well be one to forget. What little color we have is fairly dull. But not to worry because there is still fantastic color in the skies especially around twilight.

Several days ago I found myself out along the river at twilight. The air was crisp and clear. The river flowed fast, swollen with recent rain, while overhead cirrus wisps drifted on high winds. I love the blue light at this time of the evening. The day is gone and night is approaching but the skies luminosity still casts a light over the landscape. The river flowed silently except where it dropped over unseen rocks below the surface. There the water gurgled, a lively musical serenade to break the evenings stillness. Out beyond the floating gardens of rushes and reeds a great blue heron preened its feathers. More than once the great bird looked my way, checking on me, and perhaps wondering why I was there. As the light fell he took flight heading up river towards the gap. His day was done. And as I tripped the shutter for the last time so was mine.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

 

 

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