Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Blue Light Special – Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona – Creative White Balance and Exposure Blending

Antelope Canyon, Antelope Canyon Photography, Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Navajo Lands, Photography Composition, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Photoshop Technique, Photoshop Workflow, Robert H Clark Photography, Slot Canyon, Sony α900 4 Responses »

Oct 142011

Blue Light Special, Lower Antelope Canyon, Arizona. Creative White Balance Setting and Photoshop Exposure Blending.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Fall color is just around the corner and we may see the full display by the end of next week. So while I wait for nature to take its course in the next few weeks I am bring you some intense color of a different type. Many of you who follow this blog, and my work, know that I have shot quite extensively in Antelope Canyon. I love the sinuous curving formations and how light plays off the sandstone walls. It is light that brings the canyons to life. I other posts I have talked about some of the lighting in slot canyons including bounce, or reflected light, chiaroscuro light, and blue light. All can have a dramatic impact on your shot. Today I am going to show you what happens when you apply some creative White Balance Settings in-camera during your exposures.

But first just a small bit on Color Temperature which , in photography, is often associated with White Balance. Essentially color temperature is a characteristic of the visible light that we see, or in some cases, we don’t see. Color temperature is conventionally stated in the unit of absolute temperature, K, on the Kelvin Scale. Color temperatures over 5,000K are called cool colors (blueish white), while lower color temperatures, 2,700–3,200 K, are called warm colors (yellow white to red). In photography, the daylight or normal color temperature, is deemed to be 5000K. If you set your White Balance selector on your camera to Daylight Setting you will be shooting at 5000K. But what happens when you go indoors and shoot with incandescent lights on a 5000K setting? Your image will appear very warm and red/orange. If you lower your White Balance Setting to Tungsten, somewhere around 3200K you can compensate for the warmer color and render the scene more naturally. In this case you are bringing the color down from the warmer side of the spectrum to the cooler side.

You can use this information to do some creative White Balance shooting in your photography. Today’s image was shot in two separate exposures-one at 5500K, what I call my “normal” White Balance for slot canyons, and one at 2500K to bring the warm tones down to a bluer color. I can then combine the two files to create a dynamic image expressing blues in the shadows and oranges in the warmer highlights. When I looked at the “blue” image I noticed I picked up some slight magenta tones which gave me the opportunity to process a third, magenta toned, image to use in the composition. The resulting blending in Photoshop would give me an image that moves from blue to magenta to orange. So lets take a look at the files I processed to achieve the final image.

Image 1: Canyon shot at 5500K White Balance Setting.

Image 2: Canyon shot adjusted to 5800K in Lightroom.

Image 1: This is the first image shot with a White Balance setting of 5500K. I typically shoot just at a WB of 5500K for most of my work and make adjustments depending on the light conditions. You will need to check your manuals for setting a custom WB. On the Sony a900 I can set this right from the main menu screen. On the Nikon D3x I can set this from the WB controls on the back of the camera. Both cameras also give you the opportunity to adjust the color temperature further with by hinting the color towards the Green or Magenta side. Setting this to zero is fine.

Image 3: Canyon shot adjusted to 3500K in Lightroom.

Image 4: Canyon shot at 2500K White Balance Setting.

Image 2: In RAW processing of Image 1 I increased the WB to 5800K and made some adjustments to the Green/Magenta Tint using the slider in Lightroom. The intent here was to brighten up the warm tones.

Image 4: This is the second shot in my bracket set and was made with the camera WB at 2500K. This is below the Tungsten Setting of 3200K. In a situation like this, having shot so much in slots, I go for a lower K-number as I can get much cooler tones in the shadows. You can just note a hint of magenta color in the far part of the image. This led to processing out a third image to accentuate this color.

Image 3: This is the Magenta file processed from Image 4. For this I simply raised the WB in Lightroom to 3500K and adjusted the Tint Slider more towards Magenta.

You will notice that after all the adjustments the final files used for the blend all have the same relative luminosity and tonal consistency. Other than the various changes for WB and Tint the RAW processing for each file was the same. I applied the same development to the curves, noise reduction, and pre-sharpening. This must all be the same so the file set can blend together properly. When I was satisfied with each file I returned to the Library Module in Lightroom, selected the three files and then went to Photo > Open as Layers in Photoshop. All three files were processed and placed in Photoshop in a Layer Stack. The Layer stack for this image is shown below.

I ordered the files going from warm to cool in the Layer Stack. For this processing I preferred this as I wanted to paint on top of the warm file as I felt I could see the changes better visually. I added a Layer Mask filled with Black for the Magenta and Blue Layers. Using the White Reveals and Black Hides concept I went from Layer Mask to Layer Mask painting in and out the color changes until I reached a blend I liked. I used a soft brush and adjusted the size and opacity as I worked on the various layers. It is important when blending files like this to pay attention to the Blend Zones – the areas where the colors overlap. Here you must be subtle and work the masks to eliminate hard edges.

Photoshop Layers for Blue Light Special.

Each of the Layers also had a Selective Color Layer where I adjusted the color intensity. Keep in mind this is a salt to taste function. For this file I wanted more intensity in the colors so I pumped up the blue and magenta. I finished off the file by setting the White and Black Point, adding several Curve adjustments, Dodging and Burning, and Creative Sharpening. Dodging and Burning is an important Layer as painting in darker and lighter tomes adds additional detail and helps to blend in color at Blend Zones.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 28mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1.0 seconds.

If you have any questions on this post just send me an e-mail. Thanks as always for visiting and supporting this blog.

Bob

Jul 312011

Portal Beyond, Lower Antelope Canyon, Navajo Lands, Arizona. Shot with a Nikkor 24mm PC lens. Image shot at f13 in five bracketed exposures then combined in Photomatix Pro.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I thought I would slip in a quick post today that I prepared for practice for next weeks workshop at Lake Superior. We will be teaching some HDR techniques using Photomatix Pro and I worked up this image shot in Lower Antelope Canyon in the spring. The image was shot in five bracketed exposures, each 1-stop apart, using the bracket controls on the Nikon D3x. After import into Adobe Lightroom the 5 exposures were selected and exported to Photomatix using the LR Plug-In. I processed the file using the Photomatix Fusion controls which gives you a more realistic rendering. Finishing was done in Adobe Photoshop and included a series of steps to bring out details in the shot. This included a Multiply Blend Layer to add tone and contrast to the highlights, a Midtone Contrast Mask, and some extensive dodging and burning on an Overlay Layer set to 66% and filled with 50% Black.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Sandstone Portal – Lower Antelope Canyon

Antelope Canyon, Arizona, Desert, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lower Antelope Canyon, Navajo Lands, Photography Trips, Slot Canyon, Slot Canyon Photography, Sony α900, Zeiss Lenses 4 Responses »

Jun 042011

Sandstone Portal, Lower Antelope Canyon, Navajo Lands, Arizona. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1 second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I had just a bit of time between my trips to post this image. I will be heading back out tomorrow for work in Washington, DC and then out to the Grand Canyon and Page, Arizona the following week. Today’s image of this beautiful sandstone arch was shot in Lower Antelope Canyon. I continue to be amazed by the geological diversity found in a slot canyon. Here, at a turn in the canyon, subtle striations give way to an arching fin of stone carved by the forces of water. A sculpture revealed ever so slowly over time by the subtle removal of material. I wonder just how long it took. And how much longer will it take for water to carve away until it separates completely and is washed away. Eons I should think.

One of the techniques I use when shooting in slots is to shoot from a low camera position. I do this to help emphasize vertical height and to bring in foreground elements to aid in composition. Here I am working with some implied motion created by the layers in the stone. By shooting low and including the mass of rock in the foreground I can create dynamic leading lines that take your eye up the fin. The light is also working for me in the composition as the fin is beautifully lit and subsequently framed by the darker walls beyond. The original RAW file and the final Photoshop Master File was processed to accentuate the leading lines and the play of light.

I’ll be back in a few weeks with shots from the Grand Canyon and some new slot canyon images from Canyon X.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Ghost Dancer – Upper Antelope Canyon, Navajo Lands, Arizona

Antelope Canyon, Arizona, Chiaroscuro Lighting, Colorado Plateau, Desert, Grand Circle, Navajo Lands, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Slot Canyon, Slot Canyon Photography, Sony α900, Upper Antelope Canyon 4 Responses »

May 142011

Ghost Dancer, Antelope Canyon, Page Arizona. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at 3.0 seconds at f13.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Well, it is now late spring when a photographers thoughts turn to chasing light beams in Antelope Canyon. Ok, I know that I might be stretching things a bit for some of you who think that spring fosters the sling of Cupid’s Arrow. I cannot speak on matters of the heart but for me, May is the time when the angle of the sun changes and brings spectacular beams of light in Upper Antelope Canyon.

This image was made in Upper Antelope Canyon, located just outside of Page, Arizona, on the Navajo Reservation. The Navajo guides are very good on the timing of the beams in the various chambers and will place you at the right time to capture them as they emerge. But it pays to be attentive to other opportunities. In this instance I was setting up for a shot more to the camera right position when I looked into the chamber beyond to see this subtle wisp of light. The beam literally shimmered and danced hence the name of this shot, “Ghost Dancer”. I see many things in this image that speak to spiritual matters. The dancing beam and the beautiful light illuminating the canyon roof are powerful archetypes. But if you look closely at the buttresses, and with imagination, you can see many faces etched in the rock. And at the top of the first buttress is an orange ellipse with pointed rays like the sun. The Navajo guides can show you many things carved into the rock by the forces of wind and water. For them the canyon is a spiritual place-a sacred place that is home to many living spirits. After many trips here I have begun to find some faces of my own. They reveal themselves slowly and only if you are ready to see. In my first trip to the canyons I really did not see. Like many first time visitors I aimed my camera at anything that glowed. But over time I have slowed down and now walk the chambers with a more “in the moment” approach. When you slow down many things are revealed to you. I can hear the wind and the subtle falling sounds of minute grains of sand. The dynamic chiaroscuro lighting envelopes you-darkness gives way to light and back to darkness. The rock itself is cool to touch and if you run your hands along the surface you can feel the lines of age cut by natural forces. Light and dark, ancestral faces and animals embedded in the rock, and dancing ghosts of light; if you do not believe this place has a spirit then you have no soul. A strong statement I suppose. But seeing and feeling is believing.

Double Light Beams, Upper Antelope Canyon. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Images exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 6 seconds.

Ghost Beam, Upper Antelope Canyon, Navajo Lands, Arizona. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 8 seconds.

The Laser, Upper Antelope Canyon. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at f13 for 15 seconds.

With the above in mind I want to layout a few tips while shooting in the canyons. Before I even talk about equipment or shooting I would ask that you go in with an open mind and a sense of respect. For many of the Navajo guides this is their home and the home their ancestors. Take only pictures and leave only footsteps. The light beams are very popular and the canyon will be very crowded during the summer months. To get the best possible results you should book a Photographers Tour. I would suggest contacting Carol Bigthumb of Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours. Carol or her guides will place you in the right position and hold back the crowds to allow you the chance to capture some truly amazing images.

As to equipment you must go light and you must be prepared to make quick changes. I carry two bodies with matching quick release plates. One is set with my 20mm or 24mmPC lens and the other with a 24-70. The shots above were all captured with my 20mm which is my weapon of choice. The canyon is narrow and if I need to “zoom” in I just shift my position.

All my shots are done in Manual Mode. I am an old “match needle” guy and I like the control of adjusting the +/- through the Command Dial. As to exposure I will set all controls to what the camera meter believes is correct and view the histogram. Keep in mind that with such extremes of light the histogram will show clipping in the darks and the highlights. I look where the bulk of the mid-tones are located and change my exposure to move those zones to the right and more towards the middle if I can. Make sure you have the blinkies turned on. Some highlight blow-out is to be expected but you want to avoid blowing out the tones in between the mid-tones and highlights. From there take a shot and then bracket around this point.

A tripod is required, period. Exposure times are long and you cannot hand hold your camera to get these shots. Leave the flash at home. The Navajo guides will ask you not to use flash and your photographic results will be quite disappointing. And along with the tripod do not forget you electronic shutter release. Shoot in mirror lock-up mode to minimize and potential camera shake.

Shoot with low ISO. Todays cameras are quite good at controlling noise but I still prefer the shooting at ISO ranges of 100 to 200 and longer shutter speeds. A longer shutter of from 2 seconds or longer is necessary to capture the ghost like beams. The guides will toss sand into the light and longer shutter times will give you the shimmering movement.

When possible shoot from a low tripod position. When the light beams occur their contact with the ground will produce a hot, white spot. By lowering the camera position the spot becomes thinner and less pronounced. As you can see the dynamic range of light is incredible. Deep shadows to blown out highlights. Bracketing exposures for blending will help you in post processing. However I will tell you the shots above were done in a single capture so it can be done.

I do not use filters to enhance the color. The intensity of light and color is already there. I do not use the Auto WB but instead set my exposures on the K scale. Typically I set this in warmer light to 5500K. If I want to pull out more cooler tones I will set it to a tungsten setting around 3200K.

If you are planning a trip to Antelope Canyon I hope this small bit of information will help you take some great images.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

The Light Beyond – Antelope Canyon, Arizona

Antelope Canyon, Arizona, Chiaroscuro Lighting, Colorado Plateau, Desert, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Navajo Lands, Photography Technique, Slot Canyon, Slot Canyon Photography, Sony α900, Zeiss Lenses 4 Responses »

Mar 112011

The Light Beyond, Antelope Canyon. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 26mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 3.0 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I have written in past posts about the quality of light you can find in slot canyons. In my mind the light can range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Todays image may lead some of you to question my apparent use of filters or post processing. I will say up front that I did not use any filters and there was very little post processing manipulation other than the application of curves and a slight change in the color balance to correct a color shift. In fact all the curves adjustments were done in luminosity mode to prevent a color shift and over saturation.

So then, what about the color? There are several types of light evident in this image. The first, and easiest to see is reflected light. Reflected light comes from sunlight that bounces off one surface before falling onto another surface. Ok, this sounds complicated in description but the orange, glowing wall in this photograph is a result of reflected light bouncing off of a sandstone wall to the left. This light can be very intense, saturated with color, and quite literally glow. No mystery here. But what about the intense blue/violet/magenta tones? This is essentially airlight that is reflected from an open blue sky. Inside slot canyons airlight can be found in shadowed walls where light, reflected from the blue sky, is not blocked from reaching the walls or the bottom of the canyon.

I do not seek airlight as much as I seek the glow. In most of my slot canyon photographs I am first attracted to reflected light and I begin to frame my compositions from there. This photograph was made from a tripod position within a shadow area and shooting towards the light. The photons of sunlight bounced off the “reflector” wall, struck the opposite wall causing it to glow, and continued on to illuminate some of the walls within the shadowed area. The farther away from the main source the more the light level falls off. To my eyes the shadowed wall appeared more grey than blue or violet. Since this part of the canyon was open and exposed to blue sky above I recognized the potential for capturing the airlight. To do this I made a simple adjustment to the white balance during capture. The image was shot with a white balance of 4100K which brought out the blue/violet/magenta tones in the shadows without overly destroying the warm tones falling on the wall beyond. If I had pushed the white balance into a more tungsten color in the 3200K zones I would have sacrificed the warmer tones. So this shot is a compromise. I have used it before and I find it works quite well in capturing this kind of light. Give this a try the next time you are shooting in a slot canyon.

Thanks for stoping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Inner Light – Antelope Canyon

Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Antelope Canyon, Arizona, Chiaroscuro Lighting, Colorado Plateau, Desert, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Navajo Lands, Slot Canyon, Slot Canyon Photography, Sony α900, Uncategorized, Zeiss Lenses 2 Responses »

Feb 252011

Inner Light, Antelope Canyon. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 4 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. We are in a transition now. Spring is nearly upon us. The days are gradually getting longer, I see a lot of activity from the birds, and we are getting a some warmer weather. But then again we have had some major snowstorms at the end of February. Last year at this time we had about three feet on the ground. So it wants to be spring but we are still at the back end of winter. So it is a transition. An interstitial time that occurs between the seasons. Mother Nature it seems is a tease. Over the last week it has snowed, the winds have blown, and the sky is grey. “Oh I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day”…

I find transitions somewhat difficult. The thought of what is coming, of course, is exciting. But it is just being stuck in the grey of the day. The inner light, my inner light is dim. At times like this I just seem to drift, my mind wandering-not really centered and in the moment. Today’s image is one that centers me in the moment. Part of it relates to being in the place. The other relates to a series of opposites: Light and Dark; Stable and Unstable; and Solid and Fluid. In each of these concepts we can find a transition. Light transitions into dark, or dark into light depending on how you view the image. Stability in the forms of the sandstone gives way to instability. And solid rock in the foreground becomes fluid and wave like. Within these transitions is the inner glow. A molten glow of warmth that stabilizes and centers the images. All the opposites and all the transitions lead inward to the inner glow.

So when it becomes grey and life seems to be in a time of transition I will try to find a place to center myself and ride out the flux of instability. Sometimes it does not take much. Just a change in routine can do wonders. A trip to the desert is like a giant B-12 shot. Photography is one avenue I use to rekindle the fire. Many times I am drawn to images like this because of the power they have over me. I love opposites, especially those which feature light and dark. I think many of us can relate to this one concept. We are all drawn to light over darkness. How many times I have waited in the darkness of the early morning hours for the sun to rise and spread its fingers of light across the landscape. The darkness retreats in the face of light and warmth replaces the cold. With light is hope. And with hope we can go forward. My grand mother once told me that a person needs three things: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. With these you can ride out the storms that rise in between. When I am in a place of transition I think about these words. They provide an anchor in the storm that allows me to regain my inner light.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit this site. The photographs I make for myself, but the joy is sharing them with you.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

Postscript: I have been asked on several occasion whether I use any filters when I shoot in Antelope or other slot canyons. The answer is no. To achieve the glow I simply follow the light. Slot canyons by their very nature are an exploration in the juxtaposition of light and dark. This type of lighting is called chiaroscuro. The word is derived from Italian and means light-dark. Chiaroscuro lighting is about opposites, or contrasts in light and dark. The quality of the reflected light on the sandstone walls can be intense and colorful. Filters are not necessary for image capture. RAW processing techniques I use including adjustments to curves and luminance values brings out the intense colors.

Vortex – Upper Antelope Canyon

Abstracts, Arizona, Black and White, Colorado Plateau, Desert, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Navajo Lands, Photography Trips, Sony α900, Upper Antelope Canyon, Zeiss Lenses 4 Responses »

Feb 122011

Vortex, Upper Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 30 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This image was shot on a recent trip to Upper Antelope Canyon just outside of Page, Arizona. It is one of those images that if I look long enough I can see many things. Carol Bigthumb told me once that the rocks hold many stories and if you look long enough they are revealed to you. When I look at this shot I immediately think of Jonah and the whale. Swallowed by the mighty whale, I am looking through the teeth of the great beast at the light beyond. As I peer from the darkness the light gives me hope that all is not lost. I also see waves on a rolling sea; the solidity of rock transformed into a symphony of continuous movement. I see stellar storms and gaseous nebulas in the far reaches of space. The stories are limited only by our imaginations.

To give you some perspective this image was made looking straight up through a slot in the canyon. The great shadowed forms of sandstone, and the waves beyond, become a metaphor to their very creation. During flash floods water rolls through these slots; violent, swirling waves carving stone into stories and images. Reduced to the simple tonality of black and white the image becomes a negative. The rock is carved by water and when the water recedes it leaves behind a picture of its formation. Water revealed in solid forms. Solid forms that evoke continuous motion. Yin and Yang.

What do you see?

Thanks for stopping by today. Hozógo nasádo. (From the Navajo, “Walk in Beauty”) Thanks to my friend Tom for leaving me that message.

Bob

Fracture – Antelope Canyon, Navajo Lands, Arizona

Adobe Lightroom, Antelope Canyon, Arizona, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lightroom, Mountain Sheep Canyon, Navajo Lands, Photography Technique, Slot Canyon, Slot Canyon Photography, Sony α900 No Responses »

Jan 222011

Fracture, Antelope Canyon/Mountain Sheep Canyon, Navajo Lands, Arizona. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1 second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am heading out for a week and wanted to get a new image up before I took off. Though the title says the shot is from Antelope Canyon, it is actually a shot in a small, open-top slot, called Mountain Sheep Canyon. It is within a few miles of Upper Antelope Canyon and is available to photographers through my friend and guide Carol Bigthumb of Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours. It is a short canyon but it is full of beautiful details and amazing contortions wrought by the forces of wind and water. This image illustrates how water actually carves out the canyons during flash floods. As water runs through the canyons it can get trapped in small recesses and begins to swirl. As it does so the water carves away at the stone and the recesses become larger and more undercut. As the water rushes through it can rip away and fracture the stone as well as polish the surface revealing beautiful striations. Depending on the time of day the light in the canyons is amazing. The glow on the right wall is the result of bounced, or reflected, light off the wall just behind the cameras position. This is the kind of light I search for and I love to create compositions that juxtapose this light with shadowed areas. In most instances shooting in an open-top slot requires more diligent composition as the light can be more harsh. If you can get in the early morning or late afternoon the light can be softer.

The image was processed in Lightroom and finished in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Mountain Sheep Canyon – Convergence

Antelope Canyon, Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Desert, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Mountain Sheep Canyon, Navajo Lands, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Slot Canyon, Slot Canyon Photography, Sony α900 No Responses »

Aug 212010

Convergence, Mountain Sheep Canyon, Navajo Lands. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This image is from Mountain Sheep Canyon on the Navajo Reservation. This shot is all about the idea of leading lines. I have written about leading lines in past postings as a compositional element to help draw the viewer into the image and then “lead” them through the shot. Leading lines can be subtle references such as a line of trees or groups of rocks or they can be quite obvious as in this shot. The shot was taken in a very narrow section of the canyon. The sky was so bright overhead that a shot inside the narrow area was impossible. I was still getting some nice bounced and reflected light but needed a different viewpoint. The compositional solution was to get higher and shoot down the slot. This was easier said then done and took me about 20 minutes to shimmy up and locate the tripod. I am really not more than about 6 feet up but the change in camera position viewpoint was significant. From here I could really accentuate the sandstone striations on both walls and allow a convergence of the lines with the path. Normally I like to have my leading lines lead to the main point of the image. Here the leading lines are the main point. The sheer feeling of movement along the layered compression of sandstone is my main subject. The lines draw you in from the bottom of the shot and lead you down the path. But while the lines are the subject I have allowed the viewer a door to get out. The lines all converge on a single, subtle glow of light. The light at the end of the path. The light that draws you forward to something new. Beyond that light are new discoveries to be made.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Mountain Sheep Canyon – Portal

Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Desert, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Navajo Lands, Slot Canyon, Slot Canyon Photography, Sony α900 No Responses »

Aug 132010

Portal, Mountain Sheep Canyon, Navajo Reservation. Shot with a Sony α900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f16 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone. Welcome to today’s post. This image is from Mountain Sheep Canyon on the Navajo Reservation outside of Page, Arizona. A good image has an entrance, a place for the viewer to enter the frame and begin the journey of exploration. I also think images, and this seems to be true of many of my shots, should have a theme which may be as simple as a series of leading lines to more complex repeating patterns. As I look back on this shot I now realize that the striations I was attracted to at first is but a minor theme compared to a more complex series of shapes. The strength lies in the striations which form the leading lines that draw you into the image. But as your eye explores you begin to see the repeating shapes of the sandstone walls and beneath that a series of circular shapes that spiral in towards the dark window. The dark window also has an opposite form in the sandy floor. But there is more. This shot expresses the theme of journey-about traveling from the darkness into the light at the end of the tunnel. This image is a portal to places unexplored. To something just ahead. Slot canyons by their vary nature are about journeys. Linear and sinuous the canyons express the journey of water which cuts them slowly year after year. They represent vertical history built layer by layer and compressed under the weight of pressure and time. I think it is these thoughts which occupy me when I am there. Photography is often about being in the moment and in a slot canyon you have to fight to stay there. They lure you in and beckon you to go farther. As soon as you frame one image another appears and soon you are deep inside following the light ahead. Can anything be better?

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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