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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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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

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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

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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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Sunset at Badwater – Death Valley National Park, California

 California, Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, Desert, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Salt Flats, Twilight Photography, Wide Angle Photography  2 Responses »
Jan 032012
 

Sunset at Badwater, Death Valley National Park, California

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am just back, this very morning at 3:00 am to be exact, from a shooting trip to Death Valley with Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel. To say we shot up the place would be an understatement. We spent nearly every waking hour out in the landscape shooting from early morning to late in the evening. It was what a photography trip with best friends is all about-photography, friendship, and camaraderie. The jokes and shenanigans were non-stop. And of course there was a little photography along the way. In nearly three and a half days and 10 separate shooting sessions I managed to exhaust 10 compact flash cards and log over 100 gigs in files. The weather was amazing and we had beautiful clouds for many of our shoots.

With so many images it was hard to know where to begin. So the easiest place I think is from the beginning. This image was shot on our first evening in the park. On the way in to the park we stopped and photographed some interesting mountains and clouds but the main goal was to get down into the flats for twilight. The Badwater Salt Flats are one of the lowest places on earth. Summer temperatures can reach better than 115 degrees and the heat leaches all the moisture out of the ground. In the harsh light of midday the flats are unremarkable. But at twilight they become soft and other-worldly. Here the white salt glows with the reflected color of the sky and clouds. Undefined ridges catch the highlights and reveal the intricate patterns embedded in the flats. Out here the lack of noise is deafening. It is so quiet you can here a pin drop. This valley extends for many miles up the spine of Death Valley and includes many incredible geologic formations. This was a fitting place to start our adventures.

Stay tuned for more images from this trip. And check out Alec Johnson’s and Travis Bechtel’s websites for their images.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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King of the Hill – Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

 Abstracts, Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Lightroom Workflow, Arizona, Black and White, Desert, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Circle, Hoodoo, Landscape, Landscape Photography, National Parks, Nikon D3x, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Photoshop Technique  2 Responses »
Dec 092011
 

King of the Hill, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This is an image I have affectionately named “King of the Hill”. It is a rather large pedestal of Navajo Sandstone perched on top of layer upon layer of serrated and swirling stone. To be honest this was a disappointing day. I was scheduled to make a trip into Canyon X but a massive front several states away brought clouds and flat, contrasty light. Not exactly the kind of conditions suitable for slot canyon photography. So with the Canyon X trip cancelled, and determined to shoot something, I wondered out into some slick rock areas near Glen Canyon. I do not like to shoot in desperation as it usually leads to uninspiring images and frustration. But here I was anyway. At the very least this would be a scouting trip for a future trip. I wandered for hours up, down, and through an amazing landscape of sharp-edged stone. They were like giant red layer cakes rising upward through a series of dimensional swirls culminating in a large rock “cupcake” with a cookie on top. But the light was just horrible – flat, contrasty, and featureless. Light brings form, shape, and definition. With it we can separate the elements of an image and bring it to life.

But even without the light I knew there was a shot here in this garden of stone. In conditions like this black and white can save the day. To begin to see the possibilities I set my cameras display setting to black and white. Immediately the possibilities began to surface. The flat red color and grey sky became more cohesive and interesting in black and white. And with a little Lightroom and Photoshop work I knew I could bring out the drama and detail in the stone. I also had to be a little patient with my subject. At time during the day a hint of form would appear in the featureless grey sky. For this shot I waited almost 45 minutes for a band of clouds to form over this formation. Waiting for just the right moment I was able to not only capture some interest in the sky but to also use this to frame around the sandstone pedestal. All day I played this “cat and mouse” game with vary degrees of success. With this image everything fell in to place and I was able to bring home a winner.

Technical Details: This image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 24mm. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 30 seconds. Even though I had my screen display set to Black and White the RAW captured all the color data. I experimented with the RAW processing to bring out as much color detail so I could make the B+W conversion in Photoshop. For the final however I made the conversion in Lightroom using the Color Mode Sliders. I have found I have a great deal of control with these sliders and can produce an excellent file for final work in Photoshop.

My workflow in Photoshop followed my typical pattern with one exception. I began, as usual, with “digital gardening” on a filter layer to clean up a few dust spots and applying my Smart Sharpen layer to bring up the micro-contrast of the file. The RAW file brought from Lightroom, though solid, still needed some punch. To do this I “Merged Visible” to create a new Image Layer. Note that here that I could also have flattened the file but I almost never do this as I might want to make some adjustment to the Sharpening and I need the Layer Stacks intact for this. With the new Image Layer active I changed the Blending Mode to Soft Light. You could also use Multiply Mode but this usually requires reducing the opacity of the effect. With Soft Light I find I get a nice punch to the file by increasing the density of the pixels. It is a great technique in certain circumstances to add depth to the file. From here it followed my usual Layers including White and Black Point, several Contrast/Curve Adjustments through Luminosity Masks and extensive dodging and burning. Dodging and burning is where I paint with light and manipulate the highlights and shadows to add visual dimension to the file. Using a combination of the Brush Tool and D+B Tools I work light and dark values at low opacities along edges and flat areas to separate tones and emphasize light and shadow.

Thank you for stopping by today!

Bob

 

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Dawn Sky – West Virginia Farmland, Shepherdstown, WV

 Landscape, Landscape Photography, Nikon D3x, Photography Composition, Robert H Clark Photography, Shepherdstown, Singh-Ray Filters, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunrise, West Virginia, Wide Angle Photography  2 Responses »
Nov 082011
 

Dawn Sky No. 1 and West Virginia Farmland. Shot near Shepherdstown, WV.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Over the last few weeks we have had some incredible “cloud events” here in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. I am fortunate to have a beautiful drive to my office. It winds through rural land plowed and planted with corn, winter wheat, soybeans, and other crops. On many mornings a misty fog settles into the low spots obscuring the landscape like a veil. From the high points in the road I can see the mountains of Loudoun Heights, and farther still, the water gap at Harpers Ferry, where the Shenandoah and Potomac join together.

On these crisp, fall mornings, the air is razor clear. The cool mornings coupled with the fog bring a hard rime that coats the land with a white ice. Everything seems crisp and clean; sharp with the expectations of a new day. With my morning coffee I breath in the day, gazing upward to see what treasures the sky holds. Most days are clear with maybe a passing wisp of cirrus clouds. Nothing spectacular really. Just another beautiful day in the panhandle. On this day if was different. Off to the east the first rays from the sun were just peeking over the horizon. The clouds hung low moving slowly on high winds. I just thought it was going to be special. On these days I always have the camera pack ready; batteries charged, cards loaded, camera settings dialed in. And don’t forget the tripod. I hit the road to my favorite cornfield. I arrived as the eastern light came alive. The clouds were slung low along the horizon, rising upwards, soft like flowing silk on the wind. The light hit bringing color and form to the sky. Everywhere I looked the clouds expanded over me like a shifting aurora of pulsing mist.

The corn, freshly cut, stood at attention; the long, even rows of cut stalks marching into the horizon. Overhead the clouds continued to morph into continuously changing organic shapes. It was like an unseen artist created pastel paintings and hung them in the sky. I barely changed camera positions opting instead to simply rotate the camera or switch from horizontal to vertical orientations as I composed on the fly. On this day it was all about the sky. I kept the fields low in the composition to expand the idea of the sky and how it dwarfs the landscape. The show proceeded from Act to Act with a final bow as dawn color faded bringing the high contrast light of the new day.

Dawn Sky No. 2 and West Virginia Farmland near Shepherdstown, WV.

Technical Information: The image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm at 17mm. Dawn Sky No. 1 was shot in one exposure at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/2 of a second. I used a Singh-Ray, 3-stop, hard edge split neutral density filter to balance out the exposure. Dawn Sky No. 2 was shot in three exposures and blended in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

 

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Superior Sunset – Silver Bay, North Shore of Lake Superior

 Adobe Lightroom, Lake Superior, Lake Superior Photography, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Minnesota, North Shore, North Shore of Lake Superior, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Photography Workshops, Reflections, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Sony α900, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunset, Zeiss Lenses  2 Responses »
Sep 202011
 

Superior Sunset, Silver Bay, North Shore of Lake Superior. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 2 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Well folks just file this image under the heading of “insane”. I can’t remember when I have seen a sunset this incredible. I made this image two days before our Lake Superior Workshop while Alec and I were out scouting the locations. We had driven up from Minneapolis in a driving rainstorm that did not give any appearance of breaking up for the evening. I was just a little bit jet lagged and tired from my early travel and so resigned myself to an evening of rest. Oh me of little faith. By the time we had finish lunch in Duluth and began the final leg along the north shore the rain broke and we could see the beginning of possibilities.

By the time we got to Silver Bay in the late afternoon the clouds began to break up to reveal small patches of blue. As the light began to change the clouds looked like giant puffs of cotton candy as the wind carried them out over the Lake. No matter where you looked, up or down the shoreline, it was amazing. When the color came the clouds exploded, airbrushed in hues of yellow, red, orange, and magenta. The shoreline absorbed the colors and the atmosphere glowed with light. On my first visit to Lake Superior I had been given an ethereal gift. What a way to start the week.

Technical Details: The image was shot with my Sony α900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 24mm. The relative brightness in terms of stops of light was nearly the same for the lake and the upper part of the clouds but brighter along the horizon. In order to hold this correctly I used a 4-Stop Singh-Ray, Daryl Benson, Reverse Split Neutral Density Filter. This is a secret weapon that I use quite often and it is tailor-made for these light conditions. The filter is made with a darker strip on the bottom portion of the resin which fades up towards the top. It is specifically designed to hold back lighter horizon lines which can be a few stops brighter than the sky above or even the foreground. In my mind it is a must have for the filter kit. I would not leave home without it. The RAW file was processed in Light room and finished in Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Redwood Burls – Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, California

 California, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Photography Technique, Photography Trips, Redwood Trees, Robert H Clark Photography  No Responses »
Sep 052011
 

Redwood Burl, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, California. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Zeiss 24-70mm lens at 35mm. See story for processing.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This image is from the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in Northern California. The park is located on California 199 that heads north towards Grants Pass, Oregon. I only had a few hours to explore and shoot but I can tell you I want to make a return trip. If you have never stood at the base of one of these giant trees then you need to put this on your bucket list. I arrived in the late afternoon which, as it turns out, is one of the better times to shoot in the forest. This shot was made in the Stout Grove which takes a small bit of effort to find. These trees and their canopy are so large that only dappled light filters through the forest which makes for challenging shooting conditions. In most instances the shot requires multiple exposures or HDR techniques to capture the full range of light.

Technical Details: This image was shot with seven exposure brackets to capture the full range of light from shadows to highlights. Each exposure bracket was one-stop apart. My initiial plan in the shot was to combine all the exposures but after some experimentation I only used two of the exposures; one exposed for midtones, and one one-stops darker for shadows. The two files were first processed in Lightroom. The two files were selected and sent to Photoshop where I did an exposure blend to merge the two files together. Final finishing included some creative sharpening, curves, dodging and burning, and color burning. (Note: this file has been updated and replaced with a different processing method).

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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Cloud Reflections – Crater Lake National Park, Oregon

 Crater Lake, Crater Lake National Park, Landscape, Landscape Photography, Mountains, National Parks, Oregon, Photography Composition, Photography Trips, Robert H Clark Photography, Singh-Ray Filters, Sony α900, Split Neutral Density Filters, sunrise  No Responses »
Sep 042011
 

Cloud Reflections, Crater Lake National Park. Shot with a Sony a900 and a Sony SAL 20mm lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/30th of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. After a long stint in the field I am finally back at home saddled with the joyful task of sorting through quite a few images. Many of the images I took on this trip will require some time consuming post-processing as I shot a lot of bracketed exposures for Helicon Focus and Photomatix. I will get to these as soon as time allows. In the meantime please enjoy a new black and white image from Crater Lake National Park.

This shot was made early in the morning from the south rim side of lake and is looking across Wizard Island towards Llao Peak. When I arrived a little before 6:00am the lake was calm and a near perfect mirror for reflections. I fooled around for about 20 minutes trying to decide where to make the shot and by the time I had set up the had wind picked up on the lake surface. Intermittent gusts though only disturbed portions of the lake leaving some areas completely calm. I was immediately irritated with myself for taking too long and losing the opportunity to fill the lake with cloud reflections. But as I watched the lake surface change I found this turn of events far more interesting and liked the muted nature of the cloud reflections in the lake. Often the wind levels on the lake leave the surface featureless which makes composition difficult since you have to balance the thin line of the crater rim and the mass of the lake. On this day I could use the crater rim as a distinctive line that separated the cloud patterns between earth and water. Additionally the patterns in the lake became my foreground elements.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Sony a900 and a 20 mm lens. The image was exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/30th of a second. The white balance was set to 5500K. I used two Singh-Ray Split Neutral Density Filters: A 3-Stop Soft edge for the top, above the rim to cover the sky, and a 2-Stop Soft Edge, below the rim to cover the water. The RAW file was processed in Lightroom and the final file was finished in Photoshop.

There are more things to come including images from the Oregon Coast and the California Redwoods. So stay tuned.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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