Robert H Clark Photography Blog

Last Light in the Alabama Hills, Ca. – A New Image in my Upcoming Show at the City Meat Gallery in Winchester, Va.

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Sep 052012

Last Light in the Alabama Hills, Eastern Front of the Sierra Mountains, CA

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I know some of you have been wondering if I might post again. My apologies but I have been getting ready for a one-man show at the City Meat Gallery in Winchester, Va. I have posted the Press Release for the show below. This is one of the images that will be featured and is a twilight shot taken in the Alabama Hills located along the Eastern Front of the Sierra Mountains in California. This wonderful place is playground of granite boulders that extends for miles above the town of Lone Pine, Ca. I made the trip with two of my shooting pals, Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel. We had some wonderful light and clouds for the afternoon shoot.

My show will feature 20 images. Each one was developed from its RAW digital state in Lightroom and exported to Photoshop for the final work. All images were printed by myself using archival inks on an Epson 3880 Printer. I want to thank my sponsor MOAB Paper for their generous gift of the MOAB Somerset Museum Rag Paper. I consider this to be one of the finest Rag Content papers to print on. It renders exceptional tonality and depth of color and was the perfect choice for my photographs. If you are in the Winchester area and have the opportunity to stop by I would love to see you. Here is the Press Release for the show:

CITY MEAT GALLERY FIRST FRIDAY ARTIST ROBERT H. CLARK

Winchester, Va. – On Friday, October 5, City Meat Gallery will participate in downtown Winchester’s First Friday Celebration of the Arts with an exhibit by photographer Robert H. Clark.

Robert H. Clark is a fine art landscape photographer based in the United States. Born in North Carolina, he is a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Visual Design, and the School of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology. Robert is a photographer, graphic designer, architect, and a teacher. He currently works as a media designer for the National Park Service.

In this exhibition, “Chasing Light,” Robert features his new landscape work from recent trips to the West Virginia highlands, the Navajo lands of Arizona, Death Valley, and the Eastern Front of the Sierra Mountains, California. In these new photographs Robert takes viewers on a journey featuring the high alpine landscape of Dolly Sods Wilderness, the elegant waterfalls of Black Water Falls State Park, the multi-colored canyons of the Navajo Nation, and the intriguing rock formations of the Alabama Hills in California.

Robert’s work can be found in private collections, exhibits and publications, and internationally for corporate clients. The exhibit is open to the public on Friday, October 5, from 6:00–8:00 p.m., and through November 23 by appointment. For more information, visit the City Meat Gallery web site at: www.citymeatgallery.com.

To view Robert Clark’s portfolios or learn more about his photography, visit his web site at: http://roberthclarkphotography.com/.

ABOUT City Meat Gallery
City Meat Gallery is located inside the The City Meat Building, home to Water Street Design, LLC and Reader & Swartz Architects, P.C. Exhibitors are by invitation only. City Meat Gallery participates in up to six First Fridays a year, with openings scheduled for February, April, June, August, October and December.

First Light on Bandon Beach – Oregon Coastline, Oregon

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Jul 122012

First Light on Bandon Beach • Oregon Coastline, Oregon

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. This image of complete calm and relaxation was taken at Bandon Beach along the Oregon Coastline. Bandon is a frequent stop over for many photographers because of the beautiful wide beaches and wonderful sea stacks. But the light here can also be amazing. To be quite honest I was hoping for some clouds with open horizons so I could shoot for color and reflections in the left over pools of water. But alas that was not to be. But in the landscape photographers world we have to take what Mother Nature gives us and feel blessed to be in such a beautiful location.

What I got when I arrived was a massive amount of wind. It was really blowing a gale and it made my afternoon scouting trip a little difficult. If this continued the evening shoot would not go well. While back at the hotel the clerk assured me the daily pattern had been calm in the mornings, lots of wind during the day, and calmer by the early evening. So I took him at his word. After all if you want to know the weather it pays to go to the local sources. The evening shoot went off without a hitch and I awoke in the early morning to some very calm conditions. This image was made just before the sun broke the horizon. Fog particulates over the ocean glowed with the yellow tones of the sun and the beach reflected the blue light of the morning sky. This formation is known as the Witches Hat though its shape is not quite as evident from my shooting location. To frame the shot I positioned the Witches Hat in the left third of the frame and used a strong leading line of water to help bring the eye into the shot. The image was made from one exposure and processed in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Bob

Twilight at Zabriskie Point – Death Valley National Park, Ca

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Jun 022012

Twilight at Zabriskie Point • Death Valley National Park, Ca.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am trying to work my way back into a more regular posting schedule. We shall see. With a recent high school graduate, and the preparations for sending her off to her first year of college, I am finding my time limited these days. But it is all good. These times only come around once and I am enjoying all the activity.

Today’s post is from a winter trip I made to Death Valley with two of my shooting pals, Alec Johnson and Travis Bechtel. It was a fabulous trip with incredible camaraderie, great light, and beautiful landscapes. This image was shot at Zabriskie Point and features Manly Beacon, nearly in the center of the shot, and the Red Wall. I never get tired of this view. It has been photographed a zillion times but it remains one of the most breath-taking vistas anywhere. From my vantage point the landforms fall away into a series of folded textures with high points separated by twisting arroyos. Beautiful tones of yellow, pink, orange, brown, blue, and rose coarse through forms and reminded me of a multi-colored batch of Neapolitan ice cream. One of the special characteristics of Zabriskie Point is how the colors change in the light. In the twilight hours the colors can change from warm to cool hues and are often accentuated by the tones in the clouds. On this evening magenta and blue in the sky brought a slight cool hue to the landforms. Far across the valley the Panamint Mountains are kissed with the last rays of the setting sun turning the peaks a soft pink. There was no wind, only a silence that comes from complete solitude. Shooting beside my friends made this a special evening. We did not talk. We shot, observed the changing light, watched the clouds, and basked in the grace of just being there.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

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

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Jan 292012

Clearing Storm over the North Rim, Grand Canyon National Park

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

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

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Jan 202012

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

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

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

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

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

Bob

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

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Jan 152012

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

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

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

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

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Twilight in the Alabama Hills – Lone Pine, CA

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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

Mountain Ash at Bear Rocks, Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.

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Nov 112011

Mountain Ash at Bear Rocks, Dolly Sods Wilderness, West Virginia.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. I am slipping out tomorrow for a little day shooting trip up in the West Virginia Highlands. The last few days have been spent setting up my new Epson 3880 printer and the usual other sundry tasks that confront today’s digital photographers. To be quite honest I am suffering from a little cabin fever and there is no better cure, at least for me, than shooting.

Today’s image was shot a few weeks ago in the Dolly Sods Wilderness of West Virginia. As twilight descended upon the scene I cam across this beautiful Mountain Ash clinging for all its life to the rocky soil. At this time of the year the bright red seed heads provide a stunning spark of color to the gray, drab landscape. This is a harsh world along the Allegheny Front. Plants are constantly beaten by winds that dictate their shapes and in what direction they will grow. Torqued and twisted the plants nonetheless remain defiant in the face of such harsh conditions. Humans I do believe would not fare as well living here. The wind alone, relentless and unforgiving, would drive most off the mountain. But there is also a loneliness here that would suck out the life of all but the hardiest of people. I have camped on the mountain when the wind blew. There was no comfort in the sirens song that night. Only a cold and howling tune that would not stop.

But there are times when the wind subsides. Even the wind needs a rest. And on this beautiful fall twilight evening a calm lay across the front allowing one time to enjoy the subtle treasures of the landscape; lichen covered sandstone, mountain ash, huckleberries, cranberries bogs, spruce, and expansive vistas. Twilight light, blue and cool, illuminates the white rocks revealing patterns and textures painted by lichens. The leaves of summer are long gone now replaced by gnarled stems and branches twisted and huddled together. But I know the wind will return and with it a heartless cold. The plants will dig in and brace against the impact. Winter will soon descend upon the mountain covering the land in a deep snow. Another insult, like the wind, that makes life difficult. Spring will come though and with it the thaw that beings new life and growth. This is the way it is at 4000 feet. Spring will come but we will just have to wait.

Technical Details: The image was shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 20mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1/2 of a second. I used a 3-stop Singh-Ray, soft-edge split neutral density filter over the sky to balance out the exposure.

Thnaks for stopping by today.

Bob

Tidal Pool and Sea Stacks – Bandon Beach, Oregon

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Oct 022011

Tidal Pool and Sea Stacks, Bandon Beach, Oregon. Image shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 17-35mm lens at 24mm. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f11 for 1.5 seconds.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. Today’s image was shot at Bandon Beach along the beautiful Oregon coastline. I only had time for two shooting sessions at Bandon-afternoon/evening and sunrise. I arrived at Bandon in the early afternoon to a howling gale, high tide, and blowing sand from dunes along the back of the beach. I was hoping to get some dramatic clouds to work into my compositions but I was greeted with clear skies. Scouting for possible shots was a challenge in the contrasty light and I was constantly pelted by sand and debris. I was already tired from the drive and found the beach’s welcome less than hospitable. When you feel this way it is best to back off and just breath a bit. I went back to the hotel to check the weather conditions and the hotel owner told me that the wind would abate for the evening. He promised.

And indeed the wind died. The tide rolled out and left an expansive beach full of tidal pools and amazing rocks covered in mussels and starfish. Though I was hoping for some dramatic clouds I was treated to some amazing pink and magenta twilight light. I found this rock encircled in a tidal pool and set against a back drop of illuminated sea stacks. In the far distance you can see “Face Rock” lying in repose in the Pacific Ocean.

Tidal Pool and Sea Stacks. The Processed RAW file brought into Photoshop.

Technical Details: I used a Singh-Ray 3-Stop, Soft Edge, Split Neutral Density filter to balance the light. The WB was set to 5500K. RAW processing was done in Lightroom with final finishing in Photoshop. Take a look at the RAW file below and you can see the dramatic changes achieved through layer manipulations in Photoshop. The images below illustrate the starting point and some of the details from my processing to achieve the final image.

I almost always start with a Cleaning Layer. I perform some digital gardening in Lightroom but deal with the more difficult spots with the Cloning Tools on a separate layer. I dealt with some color cast issues in the next Layer. Keep in mind that with my first layers I am almost always dealing with Global Image Adjustments. My Detail Image Adjustments are made after Global. So for the color cast I felt the file was a bit too magenta and this was killing off some of the blues in the shot. I used a Curve Layer and adjusted the Red Curve and made a further correction in a Selective Color Layer.

Tidal Pool and Sea Stacks. Images zones worked to achieve the final image.

At this point I began looking at my more specific Detail Image Adjustments based on final vision for the file. In Area 1. I wanted to make some very specific adjustments to bring out the Contrast, Luminosity, and Color in the sea stacks. In Area 2. I wanted to bring out the Contrast, Luminosity, and Color in the rock. And in Area 3. I wanted to make a global Color change to the pool and pick out some minute details.

For Area 1. I used tow Curve Layers, one for increasing the Contrast and one for increasing the Luminosity. By Contrast I am referring to the relative difference between Darks, Midtones, and Lights. Here I am simply making subtle adjustments to the 3/4 Points (darks) Mid Tone Point, and the 1/4 Point (lights). Essentially I am making a slight “S” Curve. For Luminosity I am referring to the overall brightness. This is achieved with another Curve Layer where I am sliding the White Point over towards the Mid Point (see the screen captures below for the dramatic effect this achieves. Since I only want to apply the effect locally I use a Black Layer Mask and paint through to reveal the change.

Screen Shot of the Luminosity Adjustment Layer.

The screen shot below shows the Luminosity Layer turned on to reveal the dramatic difference to the overall brightness of the sea stacks. You will also notice the difference in the sea stack reflection in the water. Painting in the change on the foreground rock also dramatically raised the level of brightness and detail. I had what I needed in overall Contrast and Luminosity so I added a Mid Tone Contrast Layer. This is essentially a targeted High Pass Filter Layer applied to the Mid Tone components of the

Scree Shot of the Luminosity Adjustment Layer turned on to show results.

file. You can search my site for posts on how to make this layer. This was followed by Creative Sharpening applied to a “Merge Visible” Layer. Both this layer and the Mid Tone Contrast are essentially tweaking out contrast against the edges to increase the apparent sharpness of the image. The last piece of the work flow are my Dodge and Burn and Color Burn Layers. I dodge and burn my files extensively. It is essentially painting with light and dark on an Overlay Layer with a 50% Fill. Using a soft brush at low opacity I paint in details where light and shadow meet. It is a painting layer that sculpts the file.

The Color Burn Layer is where I can add and intensify the colors of the files. I have written a post on this as well. Please search the site for the details on how to perform this technique. Hopefully this post has given you some insight as to how I processed this image and some of the various techniques I use to achieve the results. As always if you read this and have any questions please use Contact Form link in the Site Menu and send me an e-mail.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Bob

Sandstone Wave – Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

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Jun 252011

Sandstone Wave, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona. Shot with a Nikon D3x and a Nikkor 24mm PC lens. Image exposed at ISO 100 at f13 for 1/4 of a second.

Hi everyone and welcome to today’s post. In an article I posted on the Singh-Ray blog I talked about photographing images at the edge of light. I am continuing to explore this notion and to attempt to make images that capture the last fleeting moment of light before it disappears. I was shooting in an around the area surrounding this wave of sandstone. Earlier in the afternoon the light illuminated all of the formation, washing out most of the subtle color in the layers of sandstone. As the sun set I started watching the light move up and realized I had an opportunity to capture the edge of light. In this case I was attempting to shoot formation just as the last waves of light hit and before the sun dropped below the horizon. The nice part about this time of day is there is still a lot of soft, ambient light which helps bring out subtle details. The beautiful flakes of stone and striations were full of color-yellows, rose pinks, magenta, and a chalky blue-white. In the distance Navajo Sandstone hills gave way to soft clouds.

This shot is all about the timing and you have to pre-visualize the last strokes of natures light source. You also have to keep your eye on the horizon and watch the suns position as it drops. Within a few minutes of setting up this composition I knew I would get a last brush of light across the top of the wave. In order to maintain the balance of light I prepositioned a 3-stop, Singh-Ray Soft Edge, Split Neutral Density at the point where I believed the last rays of light would strike. Then I just waited and watched the light. I made a few test exposures to check my histogram and then took the shot. Not only did I get a beautiful wash of light across the top but I was able to pick up the subtle illumination of sandstone edges in the wave like striations. As it turns out this was the keeper of the day for me.

The RAW image was processed in Adobe Lightroom to ensure I had enough headroom in the file to bring out the edges and colors. This file is extensively dodged and burned with both light and dark layers to create the 3-D effect evident in the stone. There is also a color burn layer to accentuate the soft colors in the file.

Thank you as always for stopping by to visit.

Hozógo nasádo (Navajo): Walk in Beauty

Bob

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