Kachina Wetlands

Gallery: Man & NaturePosted October 10, 2011278 views9 comments

The Kachina wetlands is a man made set of ponds with reclaimed water. The berm can be seen cutting across the center of the image. The mountains in the background are the volcanic San Francisco Peaks near Flagstaff, AZ, which received their first snow of the season a few days ago. A clearing horizon to the west allowed the lingering clouds to really light up at sunset.

Single image processed in PSE9. Nikon D90, Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 @ 70mm, f/8, ISO 200, cpl.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on October 10, 2011 at 11:18 AM

Nice horizontal layering. As the reflection is not necessary, I think a small crop top the bottom of the reeds would deemphasize the wetlands slightly and make for a more balanced picture. However, since the wetlands are the subject, a crop from the top might be more in order. Personally, I would change the subject to be "San Francisco Peaks.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Jake Case on October 10, 2011 at 11:37 AM

Great shot! Looks like you got that perfect combo of great clouds and great light at just the right time...well captured. Cool idea to shoot at the Kachina wetlands, I never would have thought to try that. I'll put that on my list of things to check out, although it makes it harder since I don't live up there anymore. Anyway, everything looks perfect here, awesome job.

Registered on December 13, 2010, 38 Posts, 167 Comments

Comment posted by Shane McDermott on October 10, 2011 at 12:17 PM

Hey Doug

Great capture, hardly recognizable as "the peaks", they are looking so textured, enormous and majestic. I am also really liking the color palette and shadow detail throughout this image. Well done!

Shane

Registered on November 12, 2007, 49 Posts, 1074 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on October 10, 2011 at 4:25 PM

Hi Doug, A beautiful scene. and, like everyone else, I too have an opinion. At the moment, IMO, the attention is divided between the wetlands and the mountains. If the wetlands is your subject and I think it deserves to be, I would cut down on the pinks in the sky and the mountains so they are more in the background and fighting the wetlands less.

Good job capturing the scene.

Regards,

Carol

PS, a third look tells me that I would remove the tiny houses/cars/signs close to the foot of the trees---for what that idea is worth.

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on October 10, 2011 at 6:47 PM

Incredible clouds. Really beautiful.

Registered on September 27, 2006, 636 Posts, 10682 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on October 11, 2011 at 8:16 PM

Looks like an amazing sunset - excellent detail with the large view. Looks like an erupting volcano. Wow!

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on October 12, 2011 at 12:17 PM

Gorgeous.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on October 12, 2011 at 2:28 PM

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. They are always welcome and appreciated.

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Jones on October 12, 2011 at 11:49 PM

I think this is gorgeous, and would not change a thing!
Nothing wrong with having more than one beautiful element in a landscape in my book. (OK, I never wrote a book about art or even photography, but I know that my brain is capable of enjoying more than one subject in a pleasing composition, and I see that in a lot of landscape paintings by the masters.) Whether the mountains make a great background for the wetlands, or the wetlands and reflection make an interesting foreground for the mountains, this combination of elements is captivating, even if it is complicated further by the gorgeous clouds, snow, (and maybe even a duck on the pond?). Not simply beautiful, but complexly beautiful.

Registered on April 18, 2007, 953 Posts, 6435 Comments