Maelstrom

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 2, 2013559 views31 comments

Eons of wind, water and sand carved out this twisted section of canyon on the Colorado Plateau.
Mid-morning sun provided the beautiful light.
And me...I was just passin' through.

I always wondered why the camera captured blue/purple tones in slot canyons, and Floris van Breugel's blog post titled 'The Navajo Rainbow' provided a good explanation. Thank you, Floris.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Canon 5DII w/16-35 lens @ 16mm
1/2 sec. @ f8 ISO 100
2 exposures blended for optimum DOF.

Comments

31 comments

Comment posted by Jared Warren on May 2, 2013 at 7:03 PM

Gorgeous! Colors, lines, comp, vision... great execution all around.

Registered on May 11, 2012, 84 Posts, 931 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on May 2, 2013 at 7:33 PM

A tremendously effective visual flow to this one. Perfect processing of the warm and cool as well.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Fricke on May 2, 2013 at 7:55 PM

Deftly handled light and great comp John. Wonderful tones and texture on the foreground rocks and the striped sandstone in the background is a nice bonus you typically don't see. Terrific image John!

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

Comment posted by John Neukirch on May 2, 2013 at 8:07 PM

Simply exquisite! The wonderful textures and superb lines are magical. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Gavin on May 2, 2013 at 8:32 PM

There have been countless images of the same or similar canyon sections, but, IMO, this one is at the top. Thanks for posting it.

Registered on August 14, 2008, 293 Posts, 1250 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Schrayer on May 2, 2013 at 9:01 PM

Excellent work, John. I really like the soft light here as it really brings out all of the interesting lines and texture in the sandstone. The contrasting color is beautiful as well. Masterfully composed and processed.

Registered on May 28, 2004, 114 Posts, 2890 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on May 2, 2013 at 9:44 PM

I remember when you posted this in the forum. Absolutely incredible form and motion here. One of my all time favorite slot canyon shots. I definitely have to get myself into these more remote and rarely seen canyons.

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

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on May 2, 2013 at 10:05 PM

Fantastic dynamic feel to this! In particular I love the striations on the distant wall.

Glad you enjoyed my article, and thanks for sharing it!

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on May 2, 2013 at 10:25 PM

Has to be the most dynamic slot image ever. The forms and the lines, together with the colors, are simply amazing. Stunning work.
And thank you for your suggestions on my Rhododendron image. Much appreciated.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Yiming Hu on May 2, 2013 at 10:35 PM

Fantastic. I like the textures, curves, and especially the visual flows here.

Registered on April 28, 2011, 38 Posts, 733 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on May 2, 2013 at 11:04 PM

Love the twisting turning, almost spiral sense from the layers of rock. All of the subtle colors in the stone mix so gently and so well. Excellent!

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Soubhik Patranabis on May 2, 2013 at 11:59 PM

Awesome John! loved it !

Registered on January 25, 2010, 54 Posts, 610 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on May 3, 2013 at 9:40 AM

John, This is awesome! Really beautiful work on this. I love your comp and the light, color and textures are fantastic. Your large version is a real treat to explore!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by John Mumaw on May 3, 2013 at 9:46 AM

Thanks, folks. I really appreciate the kind words!

Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on May 3, 2013 at 10:31 AM

Beautiful John. Love the color gradient and textures. A nice study of form, light, and color.

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

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on May 3, 2013 at 10:32 AM

This looks stunning John, absolutely gorgeous.

You don't post your photo's very often but when you do they are of the highest quality.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on May 3, 2013 at 10:40 AM

yeah, Gary's right--you should post more crappy shots like i do

This is real nice John--terrific twists and turns, and i really like the natural looking hues here.
I'm a bit jaded with slot shots, but this is nice enough to keep me inerested.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Dietrich Gloger on May 3, 2013 at 11:23 AM

Indeed a really good slotcanyon shot. The lines and the light work very well.

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

Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on May 3, 2013 at 1:00 PM

Hard to post a slot canyon view with a very unique look, but this one does an excellent job of it, John. Whether it's the composition, given light, end processing or collection of it all matters not, it all comes together to bring about a perfect image IMO.

Registered on February 25, 2006, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments

Comment posted by Erik Stensland on May 3, 2013 at 2:08 PM

Wonderful movement to this John! I really enjoy the tones as well.

Registered on September 27, 2004, 121 Posts, 718 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on May 3, 2013 at 4:50 PM

Stunning image John. Excellent colors, comp and textures. Looks perfect to me!

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

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on May 3, 2013 at 8:30 PM

John, you da man! Love everything about this. Way to go.

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Chris Chamberlain on May 3, 2013 at 10:49 PM

Wow! I know you don't like those kind of responses. Sorry. I just don't have anything to suggest here. Wonderful lines, colors, and detail. Very good execution here, both in field, and post.

Chris

Registered on March 13, 2007, 500 Posts, 8365 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Smith on May 3, 2013 at 10:50 PM

This is a slot-shot where the taffy puller was on steroids... the twists punch this up along with the colors to deliver a knock-out winner. Congrats.

Registered on September 5, 2008, 449 Posts, 2444 Comments

Comment posted by Kah Kit Yoong on May 4, 2013 at 8:55 AM

Awesome shot. One thing that I feel about this, is how solid and alive that rock seems. It's not a quality I've noted on most other slot shots.

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

Comment posted by Bill Reid on May 4, 2013 at 8:55 AM

Wonderful image John. Great motion, textures and tones in this. Just great.

Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments

Comment posted by Enrique Vizcarra on May 5, 2013 at 2:17 PM

Great textueres and colors !!!

Registered on September 10, 2009, 223 Posts, 393 Comments

Comment posted by Stuart Williams on May 6, 2013 at 8:52 AM

fabulous - totally appealing to my sense of chaos. love the colour too. well done.

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

Comment posted by Phil Pogledich on May 6, 2013 at 12:16 PM

Masterful shot, John. The composition is very dynamic and you really nailed the overall tonality, color contrasts, etc. Easily one of the best slot canyon images I've seen in quite some time.

Registered on August 24, 2009, 123 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by Navin Sarma on May 6, 2013 at 7:01 PM

Gorgeous shapes, soft light. Would love to see these canyons some day.

Registered on July 17, 2011, 233 Posts, 1373 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on May 7, 2013 at 12:08 PM

The view isn't a familiar one to me, but the incredible detail and mixed lighting is just dandy. The dark shadows wind me through the shot. Nothing to improve for me.

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