Last night wasn't terribly exciting in terms of clouds in Anza Borrego, so while I was driving along I thought I saw enough Chollas to make a nice collection of glowing Chollas. Well.. there weren't really. I was pretty wiped out from my hike earlier that day, so I settled on shooting this one by itself. It feels a little too simple/cliche for what I generally strive for, so let me know what you think. Also, it looks tilted, but the valley was angled like that.. and if I artificially tilt it I think the Cholla will look awkward, thoughts? Thanks!
Posted by Robert Dayton on April 12, 2009 at 11:31 PM
I like it, Floris. The Cholla in the background also shows a little rim backlighting.
I've never had any good fortune photographing Cholla. This is inspiring; I'll keep
trying.
How the hell do you get these sunstars so perfect? Great shot. I like it and do not notice the tilt.
Posted by David Senesac on April 13, 2009 at 1:20 AM
Excellent work Floris. Like how there is another cholla lit similarly at midground.
Their teddy bear paws really like hitchhiking on my lower pant legs. But the feeling isn't mutual haha.
In 2005 while in JT climbing about boulders, unknown to me, one also poked a pin hole in my wide angle bellows. The next couple days during mid week I was on top of the most glorious bloom at Shell Creek of the last decade. That was before the public had got wind of conditions as only a few pros were about. After returning home I found out all that film was wasted due to a light leak.
Oh man David, that has to be the worst Cholla attack imaginable! I got stabbed a few times.. but that pain goes away, I'm sorry to hear about your loss.. they can't poke holes in digital
Ben - it's the 16-35mkII, stop it down and it does everything for you Now, getting rid of the unwanted green, red, and yellow flare spots that always appear... there's a trick to that (not just careful cloning, something much much better). But it's a pretty good one, so I'm going to see if I can turn it into an OP article or something.
Floris, its beautiful. The fact the cholla stands alone gives it a wonderful visual separation from the dark background. The sunburst is perfect and the cloudbank in the distance adds to it as well. The degree of tilt is not disconcerting either. I don't know what you're worried about
Posted by Richard Wong on April 14, 2009 at 1:04 AM
Great job at handling the highglights. I haven't seen a sunstar quite like this before! Oh yeah and those "jumping cholla" will stick onto your boots when you least expect it too.
Discussion
6 repliesI've never had any good fortune photographing Cholla. This is inspiring; I'll keep
trying.
Their teddy bear paws really like hitchhiking on my lower pant legs. But the feeling isn't mutual haha.
In 2005 while in JT climbing about boulders, unknown to me, one also poked a pin hole in my wide angle bellows. The next couple days during mid week I was on top of the most glorious bloom at Shell Creek of the last decade. That was before the public had got wind of conditions as only a few pros were about. After returning home I found out all that film was wasted due to a light leak.
Ben - it's the 16-35mkII, stop it down and it does everything for you