Kiva

'On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert...'
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Not exactly a speedway, but I was tooling along a 'rattlesnake dirt road' in the middle of nowhere today about 20 miles south of Monticello, Utah when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a couple of angled poles sticking out of the ground in the desert.
I pulled over, walked to where the poles were and, lo and behold...there was a recently excavated Anasazi kiva (c.1100 AD) !
It was about straight up noon, so I thought I'd see if I could find a light beam shining down in from the top entrance.

It was my lucky day...

Canon 5DII w/17-40 lens @ 17mm
1/20 sec. @ f16 ISO 100

Any comments and/or processing tips greatly appreciated!

..and a palladium toned b&w version for you b&w fans.

These rock, John! Not a thing about either that I can find to critique. What a great find!

I like the color one, but when I scrolled down to the monochrome version, all I could think was, "wow!" What a great image of a special place.

What great images, John. And what a find too. The light beam is just incredible. I can't decide which version I like better.

Very cool John! I really like both images. I think you have the perfect light and comp!
I like the color version slightly better. The warm colors make me imagine a cooking fire in there.

Cool John, great light beam.

What a great find, John! I like both versions, but favor the color version. Like the others, I see nothing that needs improvement.

That's a nice find and a great shot! I like the color version better. The only processing suggestion I might have is to use a luminosity mask to lighten up the really dark areas a little.

Awesome spot, and awesome result! I also prefer the color version.

Excellent exposure, good work, John! I also prefer the color, but i rarely like toning.

Wow. What a find! I love how the light beam is perfectly parallel with the ladder. And the edges and swirls in the beam are really, really cool. I like both versions a lot. The toned version could probably handle a bit more contrast (?), but is quite nice, as is.

Wow! Your lucky day indeed! I agree 100% with all comments above.

Woohoo! I like them both...nice light beam. I usually favor color but the B/W here is nicely done. I wonder what a slight sepia would look like.

This is the best kiva shot I have seen. Everything is perfect here. Thanks for sharing.

I don't know which is cooler; the story or the photo.

Really great shot, nice find.

Wow John...that is a very pretty Kiva...very intact...fantastic photos!

Stunning.

Nice job, at first I though this was the Kiva in Blanding by the museum.

Perfection. As Scott noted, the angle of the light and ladder is immediately what caught my eye. The presentation is dead-on (in either version), so you get right to the subject matter. Excellent. This image is full of interesting light, shadow and form ... no question I'd go with b/w or toned.

Excellent work! The ladder looks like it is a replica or has been built fairly recently. I wonder who did this? Joe.

Both version work well, and I guess I am leaning to the toned one. The light on the ground is fairyly burned out, so maybe a little control on that area, but man, these are due for the gallery.

Thanks so much for the kind words and advice...I really appreciate it!

All ladders that one sees in kivas are crude reproductions constructed by the BLM.

I've seen only three other ladders in kivas before...one in Bullet Canyon in the Grand Gulch at 'Perfect Kiva' ruin,
one in a kiva in the First Fork of Slickhorn Canyon near the Grand Gulch, and one in the kiva at the Edge of the Cedars museum in Blanding, UT.

Thanks again!

I could stare at this image all day ~ it's simply perfect. I don't really care whether it's cpolr, BW or sepia, the comp is that good!

John, this is just fantastic. The composition is perfect, the light is stunning and the mood that you've captured is sublime. Really nice work.

Awesome! What great luck to find this while out wandering around and even luckier to find it at just the right time of day. I think you should print this one big and proudly display it at home!

Beautiful work, John! Not sure which I like better, but I wouldn't change a thing!

Nicely done John. Either version is just as eye-catching as the other. The only kiva I've been inside is the one at Spruce Tree House in Mesa Verde. Unlike that one, you probably had this one to yourself. I can image how great a moment it was to find this!

Fantastic!

This is quite spectacular, John! What a great find. I prefer the color version.

Guy

I like both of them, but the different colors of the stones in the color version really does it for me. Excellent find!