Here's another really-far-from-the-Northwest post to the Northwest forum. I spent a good deal of time hiking around this region of Death Valley looking for something that showcased the colors and textures here and was not Zabriskie Point. Surprisingly, I actually liked my backlit mid-day exposures better than any others becuase of the way they accentuated the contrasts while the sun was high enough in the sky to not cast deep shadows in the scene. The blues in the rock/clay is some sort of odd mineral deposit I haven't seen many places. Maybe a geologist can explain it for me.
I'll tell you what, this is crazy cool looking to me, I'm am completely drawn into this, almost as if I am standing in this giant maze looking for my way out! I would really love to see this printing big, I bet staring at this large as got to be amazing! The colors are quite cool, the layers add so much depth, and I really just keep staring at this. I think its great!
I think Mike summed up my feelings quite well. I love the simple complexity and the sense of depth is remarkable for mid day lighting.
Posted by David Schoen on April 1, 2009 at 9:04 PM
beautiful patterns and textures. I like the foreshortening from the 100mm lens. the transitions from light to dark to light are really nice.
Posted by Jack Graham on April 1, 2009 at 10:27 PM
Marc,
I spent lots of time at ZP and the area in late Feb. The blues are not really blues, they are bluish greens. I was told these are indications of the presence of copper in the soil.
This place is awesome. I have a lot of images to process and I'll send a few over when I get to them.
I too enjoyed the mid day light... I had snow on the mountains to the west of the point and the snow with the really blue sky along with these colors made for some cool stuff.I see lots of folks shooting a lot of wide angle here. You are right that the telephoto works the best.
JG
Nice one Marc. I've hiked around this area and love the colors and variations even from one ridge to another which you have presented here. It's a little soft and muted for my personal taste but still really wonderful due to the interesting comp.......
All the elements draw my eye into a near central point where it rests; very nice. I'm totally impressed with your exposure/processing - every pebble has a visual signature here. This must be impressive as a large print.
Nice capture of these layers Marc, they remind me of the ryolite hills I've seen hiking around Iceland.
David M. Cobb
Posted by Daniel Ewert on April 4, 2009 at 1:26 AM
Beautiful shot, Marc. The depth in this one is incredible and the colors are very nice. I need to do a better job finding compositions in this 70-200 range.
Daniel
Posted by Chris Hodney on April 4, 2009 at 8:15 PM
great detail and composition on this one. It has an overall tone that almost feels flat, but then the diagonal lines, and detail is so interesting it forces you to look around and appreciate those interesting color changes in the soils. I'lll have to put this area on my list.
Posted by John Williams on April 6, 2009 at 12:01 AM
Wow, I love the way you can get lost in this one. The scale seems both immense and intimate at the same time.
Discussion
15 replies1Ds III, 70-200 at 100mm, 1/400 second at f/8.
I spent lots of time at ZP and the area in late Feb. The blues are not really blues, they are bluish greens. I was told these are indications of the presence of copper in the soil.
This place is awesome. I have a lot of images to process and I'll send a few over when I get to them.
I too enjoyed the mid day light... I had snow on the mountains to the west of the point and the snow with the really blue sky along with these colors made for some cool stuff.I see lots of folks shooting a lot of wide angle here. You are right that the telephoto works the best.
JG
well done
David M. Cobb
Daniel