Cardiac Canyon
by Harry Lichtman
This abstract from Antelope Canyon reminded me of the anatomical heart diagrms we learned growing up, complete with the color-coded blood flow. Red for oxygenated, blue for de-exygenated. I have seen photographers capture windows in the shape of hearts, but I thought this combination of warm and cool rock lent a striking resemblance to an actual heart, complete with heart muscle seen in the warm section of this view. This was just a fold in the canyon, no window. Shadows created the frame.
The image was taken with a daylight white balance setting, but I processed the image a bit cooler to reduce the red in the shadows. This killed a bit of the red glow in the bright areas, but still looked quite intense so I didn't re-process it to retail more of the warmth. The black dead space nicely framed the heart of stone.
5D MarkII 17-40L ISO 100
Comments
14 commentsi really like the soft shadow here
Hamed
It's amazing... while I've never been to the slot canyons, we've obviously seen a lot of slot images over the years... and I continue to be amazed out how folks can keep coming away with things that I don't think I've seen before.
Great job with the framing and use of the shadows. I like the warm/cool tone balance. And since I've never been, it's hard for me to comment on what the colors truly are combined with the experience. but I do know that this is beautifully framed, crafted and executed; a great image from the slots that one should very happy to have in their portfolio.
Lon
the colors, lines, and shapes. For me the colors are the most unique.
Second thought: Neat approach to a slot canyon.
Third thought: Maybe not quite done yet, though you're in new territory, and I'm not sure what to suggest.
Tony- Maybe a boost in contrast of the reds? I wanted to include more of the reddish rock, but the light was a bit too hot and the rest of the comp seemed compromised.
Lon - The shadows were pretty dark, but a beautiful transition in colors toward the areas of reflected light. There was a much warmer, reddish cast to the shadows that I reduced by using a cooler WB than daylight, which is what I used during capture. The combination of shadow,how the censor records the light and the reduced WD temp accounts for the colors. Some of the most interesting slot images seem to have the reds, blues, purlples, and blacks which I was especially fond of. In other areas of the same slot, images were much moe orange and yellow. Probably will not bore everyone with more slot canyon shots, you can check my web site if interested-starting to load some up.
Gary.