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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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Glen Avon Falls No. 5-Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior

 Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Black and White, HDR Photography, Lake Superior, Lake Superior Photography, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Minnesota, Nikon D3x, North Shore of Lake Superior, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Photoshop Technique, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters  No Responses »
Sep 252011
 

Glen Avon Falls No. 5, Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 28-70mm lens at 35mm. See article for exposure details.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am continuing to pour through images from the Lake Superior Workshop and keep finding hidden gems in some of my second tier selects. And though I know some of you may be getting tired of waterfalls I had to post this new image I processed over the weekend (But here is warning. I have some neat shots of two waterfalls from Crater Lake but I promise to hold off on those for at least a few posts). In any event today’s image was not included in my first edits for processing. One reason for this was it was a single capture scouting shot. At the time I must not have liked something in the composition and did not make a complete bracketed set. But on a second pass the shot really jumped at out at me. Which brings up the idea of karmic capture. During scout shots I will often make many captures in a row, often in an unconscious way, looking for compositional interest. At the time I obviously saw something in this collection of rocks and water to interest me but maybe not enough to stop and fully explore the options. But karma and serendipity often work together especially in this image.

I talk a great deal in my posts about the concept of leading lines and I don’t think it will take much description for you to see these in the photograph. But there is also shape repetition, shape intersections, and strong diagonal movement coupled with a way for the viewer to enter the image and move around. There is also some interesting “rule of third” stuff going on here but this gets so beaten to death that I won’t go into it. The point I am trying to make here is that for me, while I am in this self-critique moment, this image works on so many levels. It has a beautiful line of movement and simple forms but also strong, complex compositional elements as well. I also shot it straight into the sun which makes for very dramatic light. But that dramatic light comes at a price, namely a contrast range that is difficult for the camera sensor to deal with.

Technical Details: Even though I was in a scout shot mode I was still on tripod with the camera. Most of the time I will shoot scout images off tripod but I had just finished a bracket off to my left and simply turned the camera right and aimed into the sun. I still had on my 4-Stop Sign-Ray Neutral Density filter (to increase exposure time for water motion). I made one exposure at f22 for 1/4 of a second. I stopped down to f22 to create the starburst effect with the sun. I was in Evaluative Metering Mode with a WB of 5500K. Before the shot I added +1 Exposure Compensation using the button on the Nikon.  This gave me the needed exposure to capture shadow details. I made the shot and moved on. Why I did not shoot a bracket is anyone’s guess. But the histogram was nicely placed with only clipping within the sky and sun which was to be expected. To process the shot I made two RAW conversions; one for the 3/4 to mid-tone values and a second to recover details in the trees above the river. So basically a “light” and a “dark” file that I blended in Photoshop. After merging the two files I used a series of Multiply Blend and Lighten Blend modes along with curves to finish the image.

Thanks for stopping by today. I promise to have a “non” waterfall shot next time. In fact the next one will be other-wordly.

Bob

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Glen Avon Falls No. 2 – Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior

 Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Black and White, High Dynamic Range, Lake Superior, Lake Superior Photography, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Minnesota, Nikon D3x, North Shore of Lake Superior, Photography Technique, Photography Tools, Photography Trips, Photomatix HDR, Photoshop Technique, Photoshop Workflow, River, Water, Waterfalls, Wide Angle Photography  6 Responses »
Sep 102011
 

Glen Avon Falls, Beaver River, North Shore of Lake Superior. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 17mm. See story for capture details.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today I am returning to Glen Avon Falls on the Beaver River. This is the companion shot to the composition I posted on August 22 and was taken the following morning from the top of the rock chute and just below the upper falls. On this day a light morning mist filled the river below the lower part of the falls and diffused the sunlight rising just behind the large rock on the left. I want to talk about this image in regards to some recent discussions I have heard concerning HDR photography. So if you don’t want to hear me get on my soap box then please stop reading here.

As a former 4 x 5 shooter I used to compose my shots and expose for one take. I had to use whatever means necessary ranging from composition to use of filters to get the shot in one take. Even today, as I have professed in this blog, I am still kind of a one shot guy. Get it right in camera can save hours of time in post production. But I have found that digital offers me a far greater opportunity to “craft” a shot that quite honestly would be nigh on impossible to do in one take. The above image is a prime example. I am shooting almost into the sun with a misty, shrouded fog, dark rocks, and rolling water. In terms of exposure I could get close but not where I needed to be to hold detail in the rocks, water and the mist. The solution is to expose for each and combine the files. My argument is that this shot is an example of HDR-high dynamic range photography. I am extending the capture range of the shot, which could not be covered by the sensor, through multiple exposure brackets.

HDR photography in its broadest terms is generally exhibited through what I might refer to as “wacked-out, over-processed, haloed, grunge” shots where multiple exposures are cooked in an HDR software. If it sounds like I don’t like this style then the answer is yes. I do enjoy looking at those that are well crafted but for the most part much of what I see is akin to velvet paintings. And before anyone jumps on me for that statement please understand that I do not begrudge anyone their art or practice thereof. If it makes you happy then I am all for it. There is plenty of room at the table for all of us to share what we do and love.

But the recent argument I heard, and I won’t say where to protect the innocent, suggested that the concepts behind HDR are not legitimate, partly because it is associated with the over-cooked look” or the “I did not capture it in one take argument” is puzzling to me. Is the fact that I shot and combined three exposures to craft the above image mean it is not a legitimate photograph? In my honest opinion it is legit. This photograph is not over-cooked, or wacked-out through over processing in an HDR program. It is true to my vision for this image and represents what I saw and experienced that morning. It is in fact a high dynamic range shot crafted through multiple exposures. HDR software such as Photomatix, Oloneo, and even Photoshop HDR are excellent programs to help you extend the dynamic range of a shot. All of them allow you, the photographer, to make processing decisions based on your perceived vision of the image. Wack it out if you want or keep it natural. Its your decision. The Glen Avon shot I posted on August 22 was processed in Photomatix. That shot, processed in Photomatix’s Fusion engine, is not over-cooked, in my opinion, but rendered in a natural look to create an image based on my vision. Today’s image was created through layer blends in Photoshop. Both images have a similar look but were achieved using different tools from my toolbox.

The argument that goes along with this that I, or anyone else who shoots in this way, and does not get it right in camera, is either lazy or not skilled just floors me. This might be true for a percentage of shooters but I just don’t think it holds water. If I was lazy and not skilled I would take one shot in .jpg, let the camera make the decisions, and move on. The image above took planning. It was scouted and included test shots for compositional decisions. Then on the day of the shot I had to deal with the light, the water, compose the final composition, think about the foreground, the corners, how I envisioned the final image, processing decisions, color or black and white, and the list can go on. It is the same for all of the other skilled photographers I know who use these techniques. HDR capture and processing is but one tool in our kit. I don’t shoot everything this way but its there when I need it for difficult situations. But to say it is not legitimate because it was not captured in one take or is practiced by lazy, un-skilled photographers is just bunk. I will now stand down from my soapbox.

Technical Details: Three images were combined to make the final shot. Exposures were at 1/4, 1/2, and 1 second. The RAW files were processed in Lightroom and moved to Photoshop where I used layer masks to paint in the parts of the shot I wanted. Once I had the file components to my general satisfaction I made the conversion to black and white. Just so you know I envisioned the shot at capture as a black and white. From there it followed a typical path with curve layers for various parts of the image, dodging and burning, and a mid-tone contrast layer.

Walk in beauty.

Bob

 

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Silver Bay – North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota

 Lake Superior, Lake Superior Photography, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Minnesota, Nikon D3x, North Shore of Lake Superior, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset  2 Responses »
Aug 202011
 

The Golden Boulder, Silver Bay, North Shore of Lake Superior. Image shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm at 17mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 1/2 of a second. The white balance was 5500K.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am in between trips at the moment and have managed to carve out a little time to take a look at some of the images I shot from Lake Superior. Everyone had a great time at the workshop and all the participants took some amazing photographs. During a few scouting trips I managed to get in a little shooting. This shot was taken at a location called Silver Bay. It is a rocky, shoreline that runs almost north to south and affords the opportunity to shoot at sunrise and sunset. there are several small rocky islands out in the lake that make for great backdrops against the shoreline.

On a previous, early morning scouting trip I became fascinated with this orange, lichen-covered boulder. I could only imagine the forces necessary either by glacier or storms that could move this rock. Its orange color was due in some part to geology as well as a generous coating of orange lichen. The boulder stood out in stark contrast to the darker shoreline rocks. Given the sun angles I knew this would be a great shot for late afternoon and sunset. As you can see the light did not disappoint and the boulder lit up in the late evening light. A beautiful band of low-slung clouds moved in from the east and the composition was complete.

I have always enjoyed the many contrasts that nature provides. In fact these are the types of compositions I am drawn to shooting. In this case the huge boulder is so out of place and yet it is not. It represents contrast in the landscape by virtue of its color and seemingly random placement along the shoreline. Compositionally I used the boulder as “mid-foreground” element and a framing device for the distant island. There are some interesting repetitive patterns in this shot as well as the beautiful gold and blue color combination.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Singh-Ray 3-Stop Hard Edge Split Neutral Density Filter dropped in to a line just above the far island. The camera was set to Matrix-Evaluative Metering Mode with a White Balance of 5500K. Focusing was done manually with the hyper-focus point approximately 2 feet into the composition. This image was shot very wide with a 15mm Rectilinear Lens and did not require a great deal of focusing. At this wide angle the shot was almost in perfect focus anyway. I did some lens correction in Photoshop though to even up any curvature in the horizon. The RAW file was processed in Adobe Lightroom and finished in Adobe Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Silver Bay – Lake Superior, Minnesota

 Lake Superior, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Minnesota, Nikon D3x, sunset, Water, Workshops  4 Responses »
Aug 102011
 

Silver Bay, Lake Superior, Minnesota. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm at 17mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 for 4 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. The Lake Superior Workshop is in full force right now and all the great participants are having a good time stretching their photography wings. One of the great things we have been doing is showing everyone how to scout a location. To that end we have limited our shooting visits to a small number and visiting each area for an evening and a morning shoot. To prepare everyone we are visiting the sites in the afternoon to pre-scout potential shots prior to sunset and sunrise. We are discussing the techniques of scouting in addition to pre-visualizing how sun angles and how this will effect the landscape during the magic-hour. It is a hard exercise especially when the landscape looks harsh under the contrasty midday light. But the pay off comes when each photographer experiences the changes as the sun begins to set, or rise, as the case may be. Pre-scouting is a necessary exploratory process that I practice diligently. For many of the photographers in our workshop this is the first time that they have performed this exercise. It has been a learning experience and we can see wonderful changes in their compositions. Visiting and shooting the sites more than once gives them the opportunity to practice and perfect their image making process.

Prior to the workshop start I went with Alec to scout and shoot at Silver Bay. This image, shot at sunset, is one of my scouting shots. The bay has wonderful rocks and pools that jut out into the water. Here I was working on the concept of leading lines to draw the viewer into the shot. On this evening we had some beautiful, soft clouds hanging over the bay which helped focus the view towards the distant island. Foreground elements, extension and leading lines, and connection to background elements are some the concepts in this image. We are exploring these and other compositional elements with our workshop participants. There are more images to come so stay tuned. Right now back to the workshop.

Thank you as always for stopping by.

Bob

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Lower Antelope Canyon – Portal Beyond

 Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Antelope Canyon Photography, Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Desert, HDR Photography, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Lower Antelope Canyon, Navajo Lands, Nikon D3x, Photography Technique, Photomatix HDR, Photoshop Technique, Photoshop Workflow, Slot Canyon, Slot Canyon Photography  4 Responses »
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

 

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Coronado Butte – South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

 Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Photography Trips, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset  4 Responses »
Jul 292011
 

Coronado Butte, South of the Grand Canyon. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 24mm PC lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 0.7 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am a week away now from the North Shore of Lake Superior Workshop and I am busy balancing my work load and getting ready for the trip. Packing is not really a problem for me as I keep shooting and outdoor gear organized. I do not like last minute packing because this is where you can forget something in the mad rush to head out the door. I have also been working on several new blog posts and I have to pull images to present at the workshop. So its never a dull moment.

Light at the Grand Canyon can go from contrasty and dull to sublime in a matter of minutes. And sometimes it takes just a little longer for the magic to occur. Several days before I took this image I scouted this location which required an off trail climb to get out to the rim. It is a spectacular location that works equally well for sunrise and sunset. This is Coronado Butte looking east at sunset. To the west a massive cloud was blocking the sun and for over an hour I pondered my chances of the sun being able to clear the cloud bank and dropping along the horizon. I knew if the cloud shifted enough the sun would drop into a clear slot and light up the butte. Within minutes of sunset my patience payed off and Coronado Butte was bathed in a brief but beautiful light. The rim edge glowed in the warm light as the clouds overhead revealed a deep blue sky.

This image was all about pre-visualization. I knew the sun angles and given the right atmospheric conditions I would be rewarded with an atypical Grand Canyon image. I used a Singh-Ray 3-stop soft edge split neutral density filter to balance out the sky and foreground exposure. My white balance was set to 5500K which I adjusted slightly in processing the RAW file.

Hopefully I can get out another post before heading out to Lake Superior. If not I will see you back here in a few weeks.

Thank you for stopping by today.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

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South Kaibab Trail – Grand Canyon National Park

 Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Photography Composition, Photography Trips, sunset, Uncategorized  No Responses »
Jul 122011
 

Along the South Kaibab Trailhead, South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikon 70-200mm lens at 200mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 1/2 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. One of my favorite things to do when visiting the Grand Canyon is to get a cup of coffee and take and evening walk along the Rim Trail. It is a wonderful way to wind down after a busy day and experience twilight along the South Rim. Invariably I will meet other strollers and engage in the kind of general small talk reserved for such occasions. As the vastness of the canyon recedes in the dying light the subject of conversation often turns to the notion of scale. Many first time visitors, and even those who return often, are struck by the sheer enormity of the canyon. I have many trips to the canyon and never tire of its sense of scale, or in reality, my perception of it. It is of such proportions as to leave you spellbound. But the sense of scale can be confusing. Standing along the rim near the El Tovar you can see down to Indian Garden and out to Plateau Point on the Tonto Platform. As a rock falls, so to speak, it is not that far. But take the hike down and you soon realize that it is much farther than you thought.

Looking across towards the North Rim and the vastness is almost incomprehensible. When I was on a helitack crew at the canyon I had the opportunity to make many helicopter flights into the inner canyon and along the Colorado River. Dropping off the sheer cliffs of the Abyss towards the Tonto Platform was like taking a roller coaster ride. You soon understood how small you were in relation to the canyon environment. Huge, vertical walls, towering pillars of stone, buttes and temples, warrens of confusing canyons and washes all combined to overpower the senses.

Consider today’s image. It is a shot of the upper portion of the South Kaibab Trail. To find the trail just come down the upper slope from the rock pillars to a horizontal line that angles slightly down from right to left. Do you see it? This is still near the top and there are many miles to go before reaching the inner canyon and the Colorado River. Beyond is the North Rim. In a shot such as this, compressed by the telephoto lens, scale is hard to determine. Not even the trail helps. But take a look at the image below. It is an enlargement of the image. Look inside the white circle and you will see two small hikers. If you look very closely you can just make them out in the image above.

Detail from the South Kaibab Trail. Look inside the white circle to see the two hikers.

Now the immense scale of the canyon is evident. Dwarfed by the landscape the hikers have entered a world that can literally swallow them. The next time you make a visit to the canyon I would invite you to take the opportunity to experience this landscape up close and in person. Move away from the rim and let the canyon swallow you for a few hours. I can promise you will have a different sense of scale when you return.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

 

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South Rim Sunset, Lipan Point – Grand Canyon National Park

 Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Grand Circle, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Navajo Lands, Nikon D3x, Photography Composition, Photography Trips, sunset  No Responses »
Jul 092011
 

South Rim Sunset, Lipan Point, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikon 70-200mm lens at 85mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for one second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am finally home after being away for the last ten days to participate in my daughters pole vaulting camp. Not too much in the way of landscape shooting but a lot fun photographing the vaulters. Now that I am back I can concentrate on some of my latest landscape shots from my last trip to the Grand Canyon.

Today’s image was made from Lipan Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. If I had to make a choice of favorite shooting locations on the South Rim, Lipan Point would get the nod. The vista looking towards the East Rim Palisades is truly remarkable. In my humble opinion when I think about the grand landscape my mind invariably goes to this view. It is an arguable point and some of you may choose other locations from Yellowstone, Glacier, or even Yosemite. But my heart lies here. On a recent trip to the National Gallery of Art I found myself pondering some Albert Bierstadt paintings. In many of his paintings the foreground was rendered in detail which gave way to a vastness of suffused light and detail. His paintings often used atmospheric effects such as dramatic lighting, fog, clouds, and mist to complement his work. Though I am not comparing my image to the work of Bierstadt, his paintings were on my mind as I shot this day. The late afternoon light was beautiful. A gusty wind whipped up dust in the inner canyon and the Painted Desert beyond. The wind, in fact, was brisk and I had to find a sheltered shooting position on a point out from the overlook. Shooting with a large lens like the 70-200mm can present problems with camera shake in the wind. To help I shot from a lower position with my tripod legs spread wide to provide more stability. Focusing was done manually through live view and I used a small weighted beanbag on top of the lens to dampen some of the wind movement. I also set the camera to shoot with Mirror Lock-Up. In most cases, not always though, wind comes in cycles of high intensity to near stillness. When confronted with wind pay attention to the cycles and wait for the calm cycle to trip the shutter.

At this time of the day, and year, it pays to understand how the sun will illuminate the canyons features. As the afternoon sun moves lower in the sky, light will begin to soften in the inner canyon to the point where certain landforms are lit while others are not. In this image the sun is strongly illuminating Escalante Butte, to the left, and Cardenas Butte, to the right. The inner canyon light is softer and there is only a hint of light along the upper rim of the East Palisades. The effect is truly beautiful and dramatic. The image has a strong foreground with detail that gives way to an atmospheric condition brought on by wind blown dust particulates. The paintings of Bierstadt were indeed on my mind this day. To understand how the light changes and is affected by other environmental conditions compare this shot with the June 23, 2011 post which was shot on a different day.

The image was processed to emphasize the leading lines that draw your eye into the image. The line of “light” running up Escalante Butte on the left gives way to the darkened ridge line that frames Cardenas Butte. From there I increased the contrast and detail in the Colorado River to lead the eye towards the lighted rim of the East Palisades and the mass of Temple Butte in the Upper left. This image remains one of my favorite shots I have taken from this location.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob


 

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South Rim Sunset – Grand Canyon National Park

 Arizona, Colorado Plateau, Colorado River, Desert, Grand Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset  2 Responses »
Jun 282011
 

South Rim Sunset, Grand Canyon National Park. Shot with a Nikon D3x and 24mm PC lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 8 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Well I am on the road again for the next week and a half. I might get in a little shooting but this is strictly a father daughter affair as we are heading to south Georgia for a pole vault camp session with Kay’s coach. It is way down below Macon. Way down in the deep south, below the gnat line, where it will be hot and muggy. So I will be out of pocket, so to speak, for a little while.

While I am out of town I will leave you with a another image from my recent Grand Canyon trip. This shot is looking west along a succession of ridge lines on the South Rim. Cloud cover extended over much of the canyon this day and I was not sure anything would happen. In fact, this was the same front that caused me to cancel my Canyon X trip in Page. Somewhat defeated by this turn of events I drove back to the canyon only to find the same dull, gray cloud cover. But though Mother Nature can “take away” an opportunity, she can also provide. On this day Canyon X was not to be. But the gift of a glorious sunset lifted my spirits. This was shot from a remote overlook point that I had scouted several days before. Reaching the spot requires a bit of a climb but the views east and west are amazing. For most of the late afternoon the sun was veiled by the clouds and a fairly stiff wind blew along the ridge line. Higher up the wind was pushing the clouds apart and a hole opened up along the horizon. The clear horizon allowed the light to come through and provided a beautiful show.

This was a delicate shot to balance. I needed to have enough exposure to bring out the trees and Kaibab stone along the ridge but at the same time balance the sky so the two parts remained in visual harmony. At this time of the day if the land had appeared too bright in relation to the sky the overall effect would have appeared unnatural. To help with the balance I used a Singh-Ray, 4-stop, hard edge, split neutral density filter to hold back the sky during the exposure. I watched the histogram and tried to get as much of it to the right as I could, without too much highlight clipping. Though a little clipped in the upper highlights, it was easy to recover in Lightroom during RAW processing.

Though the day started with disappointment it sure ended with a fireworks. I was able to capture several other images from this evening shoot and I will post those as soon as I can get them processed.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

 

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