Desiccated Lightning

Gallery: LandscapePosted October 15, 2012405 views19 comments

Sunrise on Oregon's Alvord Desert playa.

Five exposures blended for depth of field at f/11, and one for dynamic range in the sky. The lens was inches away from the foremost crack.

Nikon D300, Nikkor 10-24mm

Purchase Print link has a version with a little better color separation, and less red overall.

Comments

19 comments

Comment posted by Cam Held on October 15, 2012 at 8:25 AM

Beautiful light! Love all the cracks too! Nice shot

-Cam

Registered on November 12, 2009, 59 Posts, 398 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Dayton on October 15, 2012 at 8:50 AM

Well composed, Alex. I like the lighting and the shapes.

Registered on November 11, 2008, 281 Posts, 3958 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Turner on October 15, 2012 at 9:29 AM

Well seen

Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on October 15, 2012 at 11:21 AM

Wow, pretty sweet image you have here! I LOVE the way the sun looks in this image and the beautiful lighting it has created. Just a stunning image, Alex!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Jeffrey Sipress on October 15, 2012 at 12:21 PM

This fabulous, Alex. Very well done!

Registered on February 17, 2004, 236 Posts, 1197 Comments

Comment posted by Hamed Musharbak on October 15, 2012 at 12:28 PM

wow

Registered on June 1, 2009, 372 Posts, 2282 Comments

Comment posted by Mario Moreno on October 15, 2012 at 12:35 PM

This is one impressive landscape image ! great DOF, tones and love the vertical layout

Registered on January 24, 2012, 163 Posts, 369 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on October 15, 2012 at 2:35 PM

Beautiful light and well composed. love the details in the foreground.

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Todd Liotine on October 15, 2012 at 3:13 PM

Nicely done, I actually prefer the version shown here.

Registered on July 1, 2008, 131 Posts, 671 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on October 15, 2012 at 3:22 PM

Beautiful shot Alex. I like the perspective here a lot. I do like the Purchase Print version better due to less red, but this is very dramatic. Excellent work on the blend.

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

Comment posted by Peyton Hale on October 15, 2012 at 4:40 PM

This is awesome, well done. Love the elements here, well balanced IMO.

Registered on December 9, 2011, 8 Posts, 43 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Mody on October 15, 2012 at 4:43 PM

Sick, Alex!

Registered on December 25, 2007, 163 Posts, 1896 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Strong on October 15, 2012 at 4:57 PM

Alex, Is the sky a blend of twilight and sunrise pictures? The sky is rarely purple once the sun crests the horizon.

Registered on October 1, 2012, 43 Posts, 302 Comments

Comment posted by Alex Noriega on October 15, 2012 at 5:41 PM

Brad, no. The sky exposure was taken at the same time as the foreground ones. The only reason there is a different exposure for the sky is because I don't have the money to own nice grad filters. I did go a bit magenta with the sky, and obviously darkened it above the clouds, but I don't see purple there - is your monitor calibrated?

Here are what the RAWs looked like after some editing in ACR, but before blending and other adjustments in PS.

Registered on May 19, 2012, 80 Posts, 195 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on October 15, 2012 at 9:30 PM

Very nice Alex. I enjoy the simplicity with the comp. The cracked mud really draws me into the light on the horizon. I'd love to shoot the alvord sometime.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on October 15, 2012 at 9:37 PM

Cool title and image Alex. This is definitely one of my favorite places in Oregon. The colors look great to me.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments

Comment posted by Vlad Sadovsky on October 16, 2012 at 3:09 AM

Excellent capture of the light , foreground especially.

Registered on November 12, 2010, 48 Posts, 358 Comments

Comment posted by Karsten Wrobel on October 16, 2012 at 3:02 PM

great comp and light on the cracks... I prefer this version for added drama...

Registered on November 1, 2008, 117 Posts, 851 Comments

Comment posted by Ethan Meleg on October 16, 2012 at 9:32 PM

Beautiful composition - that crack pulls you right into the photo! Rich light and perfect technique with the exposure blending.

Registered on October 4, 2009, 2 Posts, 20 Comments