Toxic River
by Peter Coskun
Last night I basically forced myself to go shoot sunset after the previous night I missed out on a good one though I had just spent the day slogging miles and miles up a creek chasing fall color. I didn't want to go far since I was already too tired, so I drove to a spot not too far that I knew would look great with incredible light. It was pretty gray upon arrival, but I saw a gap to the west and knew it would light up. Sure enough, the cliffs turned gold, and soon the sky went ablaze. This is probably one of the best sunsets I've had in a while, and it just seemed to work for me this night. I found this small area of green algae/mossy stuff that complimented the greens opposite of the river and loved how the orange sky contrasted with the greens. This was a 2 exposure blend for dynamic range and one double processed RAW file to bring out the detail in the foreground (which looks much better in the print version). Comments and critiques appreciated as always.
Canon 7d
Canon 17-40mm 17mm
ISO 100
f14
3 sec +1/8 sec exposure
CPL
Tripod
Comments
10 commentsEd
I really miss the sunsets I took for granted when I lived in AZ; they are less common where I live now. I was hiking with a friend in Sycamore Canyon (near Clarkdale, not Nogales) on the 28th; I would have loved to have been there for sunset, but we had to head back to the valley. One of these days I'm going to do an extended photography trip back in my old haunts; the family will just have to adjust.
John, this is the lower salt river near mesa. One of my favorite places anytime of the year. However, it is a somewhat depressing place during the summer with all the tubers that throw their garbage all over. Wish people would have more appreciation for places like this.