Wednesday Morning in the Garden

While other cams were pointed at that little known tree on Rattle Snakeridge, I opted for something else. As I drove around the bend I stopped at the overlook and this is what I saw. I didn't have time for the tripod so hand held at 1/30 sec f5.0 24-70 2.8L at 32mm. A wee bit soft but not bad considereing how cold it was.
JK

This is really stellar, John. I would observe a slight CCW tilt (the rocks are tilted, but the comp makes them a bit more so), but the comp and conditions, plus your handling of the light, are all great.

This is a difficult sunrise shot to say the least and you got some nice conditions.

Mel-

The soft effect is what makes this shot, the pastel colors and soft light are a great combination.

Thanks guys! Yeah, thats what has been bugging me... there is bit of a tilt. Easy to fix... have another brew! The exposure was tricky for sure. I made some minor selective adjustments to the sky and the dark bushes but it was the nicest light I have seen all week.
jk

Having never been to GOG this seems like a very different perspective, to me at least. Nice comp, and nice work with difficult light.

Thanks, Jeff! I checked out your bio and like you, I seek to provide a different perspective. GOG, as one of those local icons, is very photographed by tourists and pros alike so I find it challenging to find images I have not seen before. Nice gallery by the way. I will have to explore it more when I have more time to do it justice.
JK

This is really nice, John. I love your comp. If I lived near this view, I'd be there often.

John, have tried many times to get a good shot from where you were. After seeing what a great shot you got, I plan to keep trying.

Bill Brennan

I've seen only one or two shots from this perpsective, but it's one of my favorite views. And great light and colors, too! Nice work, John!

Hey Rick, good to hear from you and thanks. Ok. Time to fess up. I can't count the times I have tried to get this particular previsualizaiton of this view. Too many! So, I have had lots of practice at screwing it up and this time I got it right. No GND filters were harmed in the making of this photograph! No filters at all were used. It is pretty much a straight exposure to retain the sky values without blocking up the shadows. I made some initial adjustments in ACR then saved the file as a PNG. I did some further tweaks in PSE5 to pull some detail out of the shadows and a bit of a saturation boost to that beautiful sky. The early light was gently wrapping around the hoodoos which has always been the attraction for me. Hang in there Bill this should give you a head start. Meter very carefully and use a tripod. This light changes very quickly and timing has a lot to do with it. It was 7:13 a.m and about 2 degrees. It was over in less than a minute. You might also try a higher ISO - 200 to 400 so you can get more dof.

I would like to say thanks to Rick, Todd, and Kalin and this entire forum. I have learned so much here. You are all a great and talented bunch! Happy New Year everybody!
JK