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WC 413 – Painted Pyramid
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WC 413 – Painted Pyramid

by Ian Cox-Leigh

Gallery: Weekly ChallengePosted January 8, 2010108 views10 comments
A little less tree and a bit more of the barren desert-like (I know, not actually a desert) surroundings.

These are the painted hills in Oregon. It rained all day and the saturated clay seems to have been more intensely coloured because of it (at least compared to some others' photos I've seen).

This was around back from a different area than the main formation.

D300
Tamron 17-50mm

Comments

10 comments
Comment posted by Basil Greber on January 8, 2010 at 3:51 PM
I like the foreground with the greens and reds a lot, but I think the sky is almost a bit too dark. It dominates the scene.
Registered on November 8, 2005, 219 Posts, 1340 Comments
Comment posted by Mia McPherson on January 8, 2010 at 5:02 PM
I have yet to visit the painted hills in Oregon, but they are stunning. I like the ominous sky and the rich color in the hill.
Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments
Comment posted by Wayne Willison on January 8, 2010 at 5:03 PM
Wow. The hill is almost surreal in color. Love it.
Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments
Comment posted by Stan Rose on January 8, 2010 at 7:14 PM
Pretty shot, Ian! A bit different than what ive seen from this are--i really like the placement of the trees. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic for my snow and ice, though, maybe because its cold outside... :wavey:
Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments
Comment posted by Eva McDermott on January 8, 2010 at 7:52 PM
Great color Ian and I light the ominous sky!
Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments
Comment posted by Rob Graham on January 8, 2010 at 9:35 PM
The rich colors are great, and the dark sky doesn't bother me a bit
Registered on August 22, 2006, 842 Posts, 2824 Comments
Comment posted by D J Kuklinski on January 8, 2010 at 10:39 PM
I like everything about this! My only nit is the noise in the clouds, but it's minor.
Registered on January 6, 2008, 25 Posts, 170 Comments
Comment posted by Monica Siri on January 9, 2010 at 3:51 PM
Ian,
I like your comp and the contrast among the colors. Really nice.
Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments
Comment posted by Avi Hirschfield on January 9, 2010 at 4:00 PM
I love the colours in this shot and the clouds are fine IMHO very menacing.
Its great as is :smile: :wavey:
Registered on November 1, 2003, 518 Posts, 2114 Comments
Comment posted by Ian Cox-Leigh on January 9, 2010 at 6:01 PM
Thanks everyone!

Basil, I agree that the clouds are strong. They are probably over-graded compared with the conditions too. It was stormy and raining, but this was actually one of the lighter breaks during the day. However, I like the effect with the clouds making the scene brooding and heavy.

Chacun à son goût.

Stan, its the trees that got me too. I originally tried this shot in infrared and in B&W before settling on the colour. The composition with the receding pyramidal trees against the pyramidal mound of coloured clay is what drove the shot. It was only when working on the colours and contrast at home that I decided on using the colours and the surreality of them to contrast with the formalism of my composition.

DJ, thanks for pointing out the noise. It doesn't really show up in print as badly as on screen so I haven't corrected it, but, I should just to improve my web version.

Everyone else, thanks again for all the comments.
Registered on August 8, 2008, 25 Posts, 228 Comments