For Jennifer's birthday, we took a driving tour of central and eastern Oregon, spending a day or so around the Painted Hills and a couple of days near the Alvord Desert. Since this was more of a camping trip than photo outing, sunsets were mostly spent around a camp fire enjoying the light shows with good food and a bottle of wine, though I did manage to get in some evening shooting at PH while Jennifer cooked dinner - I'll post something from that amazing sunset later.
For now, here's a sunrise from the Borax Hot Springs. Since we were pretty much in "camp & explore" mode as opposed to "get up early and shoot" mode, we almost passed on this sunrise. I woke up around 4:15 and looked outside to see mostly overcast skies, except for a small, colorful seam on the northeastern horizon. I watched it for about 10 minutes to see if the seam would stay or go, and it actually seemed to grow. So... I woke Jennifer, we dressed quickly and made it over to the hot springs just in time to capture this scene.
The color was actually more intense and the upper portion of the sky was ablaze with red moments before. Jennifer snapped off a couple of quick pics, but the light started fading before I could get off a shot. This was the first one I got off, actually a blend of two images.
D2X, Nikon 12-24mm, improvised reverse grad (I had a 3-stop ND from the top, and a 2-stop from the bottom, overlapping near the horizon to get ~4 stops of ND there). The sky is still a little hot, but hopefully not too distracting.
Great Stuff Rick! I love the steam over the water combined with the sunrise reflections in it.
The grassy foreground seems like a nice addition to the scene as well. Although it probably won't have the 4x5 detail you were getting with your LF gear it looks pretty sharp at least in this web version. Plus it doesn't sound like there was much time for setup in this case. I experienced that a lot on the coast with colors changing so fast.
The sky's highlights don't really bother me. Nice improvisation with the stacked filters.
I like this a lot too. It's like a watercolor painting. I like where you placed the river, seems to lead right in. Nice work, especially for the rushed setup!
Very nice image Rick. The subtle tones of the foreground grasses are really emphasized by the steam and the colorful sunrise. Steens Mountain is one of my most favorite places in the state. I just wish it didn't take 10 hours to get there.
Posted by Adrian Klein on June 10, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Glad you had a great trip down there. This image is excellent and definitley worth getting up early for. Makes me want to be back down there!
Posted by Sean Bagshaw on June 10, 2008 at 4:14 PM
The grass and water in the FG is awesome. The sky is also great, but as you say, a little over cooked. Too bad you didn't have more time to bracket shots. Well done. Is it tricky to find the borax hot springs? I have been to the area a couple times but haven't found them, but I also haven't looked for them specifically. Based on the location of Steens Mountain in the photo they appear to be south of the Alvord Desert quite a ways.
Thanks for the comments everyone. The area is fascinating (especially if you're into geology) and beautiful; well worth the drive.
Sean - it's pretty easy to get to. There are no signs, however. About a mile north of the Fields gas station, there's a turnoff to the right; it's not marked, but it's at the power sub-station. Take that for about two miles and turn left; another couple miles and you're at the springs. There are also a couple of small but interesting lakes there as well.
Posted by Mel Ladewig on June 11, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Discussion
14 repliesFor now, here's a sunrise from the Borax Hot Springs. Since we were pretty much in "camp & explore" mode as opposed to "get up early and shoot" mode, we almost passed on this sunrise. I woke up around 4:15 and looked outside to see mostly overcast skies, except for a small, colorful seam on the northeastern horizon. I watched it for about 10 minutes to see if the seam would stay or go, and it actually seemed to grow. So... I woke Jennifer, we dressed quickly and made it over to the hot springs just in time to capture this scene.
The color was actually more intense and the upper portion of the sky was ablaze with red moments before. Jennifer snapped off a couple of quick pics, but the light started fading before I could get off a shot. This was the first one I got off, actually a blend of two images.
D2X, Nikon 12-24mm, improvised reverse grad (I had a 3-stop ND from the top, and a 2-stop from the bottom, overlapping near the horizon to get ~4 stops of ND there). The sky is still a little hot, but hopefully not too distracting.
The grassy foreground seems like a nice addition to the scene as well. Although it probably won't have the 4x5 detail you were getting with your LF gear it looks pretty sharp at least in this web version.
The sky's highlights don't really bother me. Nice improvisation with the stacked filters.
I look forward to seeing the others you took.
Sean - it's pretty easy to get to. There are no signs, however. About a mile north of the Fields gas station, there's a turnoff to the right; it's not marked, but it's at the power sub-station. Take that for about two miles and turn left; another couple miles and you're at the springs. There are also a couple of small but interesting lakes there as well.