Melding

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 6, 20187,679 views18 comments

This is another image from a recent trip to central Utah. I'm surprised any of the images were clear enough to post from this wonderful morning of light and extreme wind. Probably blowing a sustained 20mph. Harley once told me about a technique for using a bungee cord stretched from the tripod hook. What the hell, I gave it a try and I'm pleased with the results. Long lens, high winds...what could go wrong. I did bump the ISO for a faster SS. I can live with a little noise.

Sigma 100-400 @ 400mm, f/8, iso 400, 1/640

Better large.

Thanks for your comments on my last post and I'd like to thank you in advance for any comments/critiques on this one.

Comments

18 comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on July 6, 2018 at 5:08 AM

Pretty badass. All the zones!

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on July 6, 2018 at 7:31 AM

Awesome image, Gary. Love the shapes and tones. devil

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

Comment posted by Paula LeVay on July 6, 2018 at 10:34 AM

Masterful in its simplicity and abstract effect, I'll remember the impact of this image on me, Gary, as I try to advance my own vision in landscape photography. It's one of your best!

Since you mentioned using a bungee cord, I have to ask the question. What are you using to attach to the other end of the bungee cord? I've seen pics of backpacks and gallon jugs of water hanging from a tripod hook, but not bungees.

Registered on July 29, 2016, 66 Posts, 270 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on July 6, 2018 at 10:44 AM

Beautiful tones and like the triangular point of focus. I have regularly hung my camera bag or a plastic bag with a rock in it over my lens to steady it at 600mm. Works very well with wind or to dampen vibrations. This looks like a similar shot that I have seen with a rock or boulder highlighted. Not sure the same location, but there is something familiar about it.

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

Comment posted by gary phillips on July 6, 2018 at 11:00 AM

Thanks for the nice comments. Paula, I should have mentioned that you stretch the bungee with as much tension as you can and stand on the other end. Seemed to work well.

Registered on October 24, 2013, 185 Posts, 4136 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on July 6, 2018 at 11:27 AM

Gary, the clarity is great and it lets the triangles of the larger ridges really shine. The spot of sun on the lower section adds well. It's an awesome landscape.

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

Comment posted by Igor Doncov on July 6, 2018 at 12:08 PM

One of your best, if not your best, ever. Congratulations. It's a subject you've worked on for quite a while but this is the culmination of all that work. Perhaps it's the long lens that made this possible. There is wonderful balance to this image. First the vertical repetition, then angular repetition, and below the repeated mounds - all done with different tonal variation. There's also a graphic quality that I find very appealing. But, actually this appeals to me best as an abstract - a collection of shapes that have such harmony. Looks like a winner to me.

Registered on November 22, 2014, 189 Posts, 2733 Comments

Comment posted by Marylynne Diggs on July 6, 2018 at 12:22 PM

Hi Gary,
This is lovely. I am really enjoying the simplicity of the composition and the sporadic outcroppings in the larger view. As for your bungee strategy—“stretch the bungee and stand in the other end”—I would not trust my short term memory. I can see myself stepping off, and ZAP, there goes the end hook into the LCD! Kudos for your focus and attention to detail here. Maybe cutting off the end hook and connecting a bandana around it with a pin would make it easier to stand on and less likely to do harm on release?

Anyway, back to the image itself: fabulous!
ML

Registered on December 14, 2010, 122 Posts, 1034 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on July 6, 2018 at 3:21 PM

Beautiful Gary! Great range of tones and great layering of land and tone. Most excellent!!

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on July 6, 2018 at 4:14 PM

Sweet lines, shapes and tones in this beautiful B&W landscape, Gary. landscape. I am thoroughly enjoying that triangular shaped land mass; very striking IMO.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Preston Birdwell on July 6, 2018 at 8:21 PM

Beautiful tonality and a great composition.

Nice to see you back, Gary!
-P

Registered on November 1, 2003, 471 Posts, 5188 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Schrayer on July 6, 2018 at 8:27 PM

The layers in this image are interesting starting with the more rounded and contoured hills in the lower part of the frame and then moving to the second layer with the dominant triangular formation to the top layer with the repetition of steep triangular formations. This image combines the best of geology and geometry! Oh, and let's not forget art! Nicely captured with great processing. I like how each layer is a different brightness as well. Nicely done! devil

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

Comment posted by Ian Cameron on July 7, 2018 at 5:24 AM

Hello Gary nice repeating triangles and great texture. I use the bungee technique and have done for years. Scotland has a lot of peaty soil and a lot of high wind and rain all I do is take one of those triangular section tent pegs attach it to the hook on the other end of the bungee and push and tread the tent peg into the ground. Works well and the natural stretch of the bungee smoothly damps any vibrations.

Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on July 7, 2018 at 3:31 PM

Most of what has been said I will ditto. The essential contribution of the stacked tonal layers cannot be overstressed. I wish this were mine!

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

Comment posted by Mattia Oliviero on July 11, 2018 at 8:06 AM

I like how you divided the frame into three parts of different gray tones. The triangle in the center of the image emerges in all its beauty. Great image, Gary.

Registered on August 24, 2016, 43 Posts, 254 Comments

Comment posted by Hali Sowle on July 13, 2018 at 6:35 PM

Very arresting image, the shape, the textures and all those lovely tones. I'll have to remember that technique, thanks for sharing Gary.

Registered on January 9, 2008, 36 Posts, 582 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on July 14, 2018 at 11:52 AM

Lines, shapes, and gradients are marvelous.
Congrats on the EP!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Anil Rao on July 19, 2018 at 8:21 PM

There is such a wonderful sense of design to the composition. It is elegant without being imposing. I also love how the varying tones has been worked into the overall presentation.

A real beauty!

Registered on November 15, 2003, 234 Posts, 4923 Comments