The Past Revealed

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 5, 2010263 views19 comments

Petrified Tree, Bisti Badlands, New Mexico

50 million years ago the barren desert badlands were part of the Great Inland Sea, a vast sea stretching from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, splitting the North American continent. As the waters receded lush vegetation covered the area. These remnants from the days of the dinosaurs are now revealed in the sculpted sandstone gardens of the area. This tree is about 40 feet long. Please see larger version. Any critiques and comments would be appreciated!

Canon 5DII, 17-40 lens @ 17mm, f16, .4 sec, ISO 100

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Mark Capurso on May 5, 2010 at 7:11 PM

Wow! Outstanding photo Scott! Wonderful detail, and the muted colors are beautiful. I was just there 3 weeks ago and I missed this. Darn--now I have to go back!

Mark Capurso
Phoenix, AZ

Registered on January 4, 2008, 47 Posts, 321 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Fricke on May 5, 2010 at 7:21 PM

Thanks Mark, we were there 3 weeks ago too, the 13th-17th. When were you there?

Registered on January 19, 2007, 133 Posts, 1448 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Regner on May 5, 2010 at 8:24 PM

Of all the Bisti pictures lately this is my favorite. Beautiful scene, sky and composition. The sky is exposed well, but something about the FG exposure bothers me, looks a little too HDRish and unnatural. IMO

Registered on February 10, 2008, 17 Posts, 169 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Duval on May 5, 2010 at 8:46 PM

Very understated pallete here Scott, good detail and you resisted the urge to saturate this image. Its wonder is the soft muted colors.

Paul

Registered on June 30, 2009, 508 Posts, 1907 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on May 5, 2010 at 9:00 PM

I love this. The detail, composition and subtle colors are just great.

- Dan.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on May 5, 2010 at 9:43 PM

Excellent image Scott. The larger version is really sweet, with great detail. No nits at all.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Eric Petit on May 5, 2010 at 10:11 PM

Beautiful sky and textures. thanks for sharing !

Registered on April 27, 2010, 2 Posts, 36 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on May 5, 2010 at 10:20 PM

Neat image, Scott. Whatever you did to process this, it looks great.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on May 5, 2010 at 11:18 PM

Stark and beautiful Scott. I like it!

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Stuart Williams on May 5, 2010 at 11:45 PM

super soft light and colours. i think in the smaller version the fg is a little oversharpened. also i wish for a composition that really shows off the tree a little more. minor nits to wonderful image.

Registered on December 7, 2007, 247 Posts, 4792 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Goldstein on May 6, 2010 at 12:02 AM

That tree is really cool. I stumbled across it during my time there the other week. So fascinating to see such a thing in an otherwise alien landscape. Glad to see you captured it so well. The inclusion of the surrounding environment helps tell the larger story. Well done.

Registered on March 18, 2006, 119 Posts, 878 Comments

Comment posted by Adrian Klein on May 6, 2010 at 12:12 AM

Something about the light on this one is really appealing to me. Nice image all around, no nits from me.

Registered on June 10, 2007, 112 Posts, 1506 Comments

Comment posted by Dietrich Gloger on May 6, 2010 at 12:41 AM

Love the colors in this one! And a very smart composition too. Excellent!

Registered on January 26, 2007, 360 Posts, 9876 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on May 6, 2010 at 1:56 AM

Beautiful! Love the color palette and all the geological features in this excellent comp.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on May 6, 2010 at 2:28 AM

Just beauttiful - \great sky, fine detail, wonderful perspective -
EP material for sure.

Sandy r

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Kevin Trinkner on May 6, 2010 at 7:30 AM

Very nice shot, love the soft light and colors! The more photos I see from this area the more motivated I get to finally make a trip there. Great work.

Registered on June 30, 2008, 203 Posts, 2641 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on May 6, 2010 at 11:29 AM

One of the better Bisti images I have seen, good composition with complimenting sky, the larger version was a pleasure to view, well done.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on May 6, 2010 at 1:54 PM

Really, really nice! The processing is sweet, but the comp and subject matter are top notch.

Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments

Comment posted by Jesse Speer on May 7, 2010 at 3:21 PM

I definitely have a new Scott Fricke favorite ... right here. Amazing color, detail, comp, everything.

Registered on September 18, 2004, 19 Posts, 339 Comments