Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Robert H Clark Photography

The Nameless Canyon – Navajo Lands, Arizona

Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Arizona, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Navajo Lands, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, sunset 3 Responses »

Apr 092012

The Nameless Canyon • Navajo Lands, Arizona.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. It has been a little while since my last post but I have been up to my neck in various alligators. I have processed many images but just have not had time to get out a post. So to that end I will try and catch up a bit. This image was shot on a recent winter trip out to the Grand Canyon. While I was there I had the chance to connect up with Tony Kuyper for several days of shooting and exploration. This image was shot out in the Painted Desert on the Navajo Reservation. The rolling plains east of the Grand Canyon give way to a series of incredible canyons that fall steeply away into a maze of spires and hoodoos. Tony and I spent most of the early morning in another canyon before ending up here for the afternoon shoot. I can say it was not a disappointment. Not only were the canyons jaw-dropping but we were witness to a series of fast moving storms that rolled across the distant plains. As the sun set I was treated to a beautiful set of crepuscular rays, or “God Rays”, as they are sometimes called. These rays of light can appear as holes in the clouds funnel sunlight down to earth or upward, like beacons, as in this image. However the rays appear, they can add a dramatic and dynamic energy to a photograph. The effect is generally short-lived however and I found I had to scramble to frame the shot before they faded. It was one of the last images I made that day. Sometimes the best is saved until the end.

Technical: This final photograph is a composite of two images. One shot was made of the sky and another for the foreground/midground. I did not use a split neutral density. The two images were processed in Lightroom 4 and the files merged in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Bob

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

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

Fins at Water Holes Canyon – Navajo Lands, Arizona

Arizona, Desert, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Navajo Lands, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Slot Canyon, Slot Canyon Photography, sunset, Twilight Photography, Water Holes CAnyon, Wide Angle Photography 8 Responses »

Feb 202012

Wave Formation at Water Holes Canyon • Navajo Lands, Arizona

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am back from my recent trip to Arizona which included photography at the Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon, and some special areas on Navajo Lands with Tony Kuyper. I have so many images to go through that it will take quite a while to go through them and make selections for processing. As a teaser today’s post is from an area on Navajo Lands just outside of Page, Arizona. The shot was made in the vicinity of Water Holes Canyon. Water Holes is a slot canyon but the surrounding area is a fascinating landscape of sculpted sandstone, many that resemble waves. This wave-like formation was shot just as the setting sun hit the horizon giving me a nice soft light to accentuate the layered edges of the sandstone.

Technical: The image was shot in two exposures, one for the sky and one for the foreground, and hand blended in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Clearing Storm on the North Rim-No. 2 • Grand Canyon National Park

Arizona, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon Photography, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Moab Masters, National Parks, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, sunrise No Responses »

Feb 092012

Clearing Storm on the North Rim-No. 2

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today is just a quick post as I am in packing mode to head back to the Grand Canyon to finish the trip I started a few weeks ago. As most of you know I was laid to waste by pneumonia while out at the canyon and had to return home early. Though the doctors have said I could see residual effects for awhile I am nonetheless on the mend and ready to get back out. I have promised everyone (fingers crossed ) that I will take it easy. But the plate is full and includes a bit of work for the park as well as several shooting side trips with Tony Kuyper and hopefully, after three attempts, a trip into Canyon X with Charlie Moore.

The image today was shot as I left the canyon a few weeks ago to head home from my shortened trip. It snowed 8″ the night before coating the North and South Rims is a blanket of white powder. Though cold and not feeling well I was still determined to get off a few shots. I don’t want to get to metaphysical here but somehow I think the canyon knew of my situation and gave me a beautiful gift of low lying clouds hanging just below the rim. I have not seen the canyon in this way before and consider this a special treat. In this shot, taken just after sunrise, you can see the clouds wrapping around Buddha Temple (left), Manu Temple (small, in the center), and Orza Butte (just to the right of Manu).

Thanks for stopping by today. I will be back in a few weeks and hope to share more images from the canyon and surrounding area.

Bob

Clearing Storm over the North Rim • Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Arizona, Desert, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon Photography, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Mountains, National Parks, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, sunrise, Twilight Photography, Winter 5 Responses »

Jan 292012

Clearing Storm over the North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. As most of you know who follow this blog I have been away on a combined work/photography trip to the Grand Canyon. I was anticipating a great time with my shooting pal Tony Kuyper. We had compiled a list of places I have not been and was looking forward to bringing back some new images. Alas however that was not to be. Going back nearly a month to my shooting trip to Death Valley I contracted a nagging cough that weeks later was still with me. By the time I arrived at the canyon I was feverish and in quite a fix. I spent most of Sunday in the hotel unable to move and by Monday was in the Grand Canyon Medical Center with several IV’s stuck in my hand. The diagnosis was pneumonia. Needless to say everything was cancelled and I made the flight home two days later. Just to fill in the rest of the story I am on a new antibiotic that is working and I am on the mend.

Despite my condition, on the way out of the canyon to get to the airport at Flagstaff, I still managed to capture a few images. Well let’s just say I was bound and determined to shoot something despite how I felt. Over Monday night it snowed 8″ on the South Rim turning the canyon into a magical sight. Across the way on the North Rim it looked like nature had dropped white sugar sprinkles over the spires and buttes. A layer of clouds had dropped below the rim and was drifting among the canyons formations. As the sun rose and kissed the buttes with light the composition was complete. In this shot you can see the Cheops Pyramid (right), and the Isis Temple (left). Overhead the early morning light turned the clouds a subtle magenta. This was a special sight to see and though I really did not feel well I was bolstered, even if only for a brief period, by the experience. Nature has powerful healing forces. At least it does for me. This image will forever be linked to one of the worst trips I have had. But every time I see this image I will remember it fondly.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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

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

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

Twilight in the Alabama Hills – Lone Pine, CA

California, Desert, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, sunset, The Alabama Hills, Twilight Photography, Wide Angle Photography 2 Responses »

Jan 082012

Twilight in the Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, CA

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. The image today was shot on my recent trip to Death Valley with good friends and fellow photographers Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel. We were already several days into our shooting when we decided to make the 90 mile side trip out of Death Valley and over to the Eastern Sierra’s. It is a fantastic landscape of boulders and monolithic fins of stone that sit at the base of Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the lower 48. Aside from this special distinction the Alabama Hills have also played host to 1oo’s of Hollywood movies seeing the likes of John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, and Gene Autry ride their horses through the landscape.

Our initial plan was to get there to shoot some star trails but we changed this and headed out early enough to do some scouting in the area and shoot twilight. I spent some time shooting at the more iconic location know as the Mobius Arch before moving further up in the hills to look for more interesting features. I was acutely aware of the history of this place and could imagine the “good guys” and “bad guys” hiding among the rocks ready to stage an ambush. As the sun began to set I found this interesting set of monoliths lined up towards the eastern mountains that enclose Death Valley. With the last light just kissing the mountains I captured this image. Twilight soon fell over the scene and and in the encroaching darkness I could here the pounding hoofs of horses and the ricochet of bullets played out in the valley before me.

Technical Details: The image was captured in two exposures, one for the sky and one for the foreground, and blended in Photoshop CS5

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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