More Sonora Pass....

... I just can't let go. At least until Lee Vining rolls around... :-)

When this one came back from the lab, I never bothered scanning it. But as things usually go, you step away from an image for a while and then come back to it and many times you like it more than the first look.

There's just something about the combo of trees(w.juniper) and granite; not only visually, but mentally - how the heck trees and plants can grow out of solid rock is simply amazing.

This one here is a horizontal crop from the original vertical I'll post below. Gotta love 4x5 when you can crop an image in half and still have enough pixels for a large print... :-)

I still need to do some color adjustments I think, but it's pretty close. Which version do you prefer? I would love your comments and feedback.

4x5, V100f, 300mm

Thanks!
Lon

Here's the original, vertical image.

Lon,

You gotts quit posting this stuff--it makes me homesick.

My preferrence is for the horizontal as I think it really zeroes in on what your vision for the photo was; "...trees and plants can grow out of solid rock is simply amazing."

Can you pull any detail out of the dark area in the upper right corner. It draws my eye there.

This is a nice shot! I need to get back up there--maybe next week for a day.

-P

Lon, I really like the almost square crop of the first image. The saturation of the trunks are really eye catching too but the sunlight glow in the background seems gives it the added boost to accentuate everything in your shaded scene.

Any news on when any of you all will be up there yet? Wonder if anything is turning up at the high elevations yet?

Thanks Preston. Fortunately, there is detail in those dark areas in the chrome. I didn't spend a whole lot of time scanning this, but will make a better effort if this ever gets printed. I figured someone would comment on this as I was bothered by the dark area as well.

Steve, you picked up on one of my favorite parts of the image. I was really surprised the film held the detail in the brighter background and didn't wash out. Usually, the brighter areas are distracting, but I think are a plus here. Ironically, as Preston mentioned, it's the dark area that pulls the eye.

Thanks guys,

Lon

Oh, and I expect we should start a thread about fall color. For me, I'll be up there Oct 2-5 and my home base will be Lee Vining. Haven't decided if I'm camping or roughing it in a motel yet.

Hi Lon,

Yes, those trees are quite something, aren't they? I prefer the 1st (horizontal) composition because I like the flow of the things better.

While the image is quite interesting, I have to say that I am not fond of the light. Looking at the distant background, I get the feeling that most of the immediate vicinity was in shade. This often has an effect on how granite rocks are rendered. I have been doing a lot of photography recently with granite rocks and am having a tough time dealing with them. They appear very bright in direct sunlight and very flat in full shade. Often times, some reflected light provides the added accent to spice things up. Anywho, these are some of my thoughts on this photo that I felt like sharing.

Best regards.

Very nice, Lon. I really like the glow of the tree bark in this scene. I'm not sure if it benefitted directly from the choice of film to bring that about, but it sure looks great. The granite does seem to be a bit flat as a result of the shade, but I'm sure that is what it appears like on the tranny too. I also prefer the cropped version, seems to be very clean in compositional appearance. A very fine scene overall.

I'm a little torn Lon, I like the clean comp of the cropped image but love all the little details in the foreground of the original. Either way a fine image.

I thought you guys with dark cloths captured it right in camera and didn't need to crop. Well that's what my former boss always said. I prefer the crop if you're keeping tabs. I particularly like the way the directly lit background peeks through to add to the sense of depth. Nice mix of color and shapes.