Life can have some funny escapades as we travel along it's path. Many times I've had recall of certain movies that can fill in the linkage on these events that will also enhance that experience. Of course typically it is a much older movie that most would not remember. In this case I'm not sure if it fits; "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad World", or, "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way To The Forum".
The image is of a large rock formation near the Ryan Mountain area of JTNP. I had already checked the sunrise time and angle and knew where I wanted to be when things were to take place. My brother Tom had made the wee hours of the morning trip with me before and was along in tow on this adventure too.
We arrived at the Ryan Mountain parking area in plenty of time for the sun's arrival. As we entered I noticed there was not one other car in the lot, this was rare even for a weekday out there. But, this just heightened the impending magic hour shooting time. We had the entire park to ourselves at this point. WOW, how neat was this going to be. As we got out of the vehicle and opened the rear hatch on my SUV to retrieve my photo backpack, whoosh !!, here came a roar into the eastern end of the parking lot where we had parked. Low and behold it was a herd of about 7 or 8 cars with one or two riders in each.
I felt like Spencer Tracey as Capt. Culpepper in "Mad, Mad, World" watching all the cars sliding in.
My brother was taken back by this and puzzled as to what was unfolding.
He said, "what the heck is this, it looks like a bunch of folks planning to hike Ryan Mountain, or it might be rock climbers".
I reassured him by saying, "no, wrong on both counts, it's much worse then that, it's a photog workshop".
Oh well, I knew where I was going to setup and ran for cover before the action started. Oddly though, the crowd seemed very quiet without any apparent leader yelling at the top of his/her lungs, "ok, the sun will be coming up in the east today, so we need to point over there".
Anyway, to shorten the story here I setup to take this image and while under the darkcloth on my 4x5 I kept seeing slight movement coming in on the left of the groundglass area. I thought just maybe a coyote poking in there, but no, for heaven sakes, it was part of the photog contingent with Steve Sieren amongst the group....
After I had packed up my gear in the vehicle I went to speak with the group and it was only then Steve and I even knew what had taken place....way too funny for me anyway. Turned out it was no "workshop" at all, just a bunch of photog friends out enjoying the sunrise too.
Posted by Robert Dayton on April 17, 2010 at 4:47 PM
The rocks seem to scroll over each other. Most unusual. When I travel
to JTNP, I mainly photograph the rock formations rather than the Joshua
Trees. Well done, Paul. I like it.
If I start naming the things I see in your image of this cool rock formation, I'll definitely be accused of having an overactive imagination. The rocks in JTNP are certainly one of the main attractions, never taken for granite err granted myself. I really enjoyed the story. Reminds me of the time I actually ran into a workshop from the Mt. Light Gallery in Bishop on Brockman lane at dawn. Working around the field of photographers actually forced me into a more interesting comp. Almost as much I enjoy this image thanks for sharing.
Nice arrangement of rocks with wonderful lines and shapes. Loved the accompanied story as well. This is the kind of image that makes me want to get back out to JT before the heat becomes unbearable.
Posted by Steve Sieren on April 18, 2010 at 7:06 PM
Nice color you picked up in the rocks Paul, they look like melted mounds of who knows what but interesting. I'm guessing this the Monday the 21st. Not much blooming then but in the Coachella valley it was a different story.
You know what I was thinking when I saw the movement, "These must be some deer or something but nope just two guys too close to the road." I was seriously thinking of standing on top of the rock before I knew you were there. Now you know why I take a little walk away from the parking lot Paul. Funny I didn't notice it was you as I walked by the first time on my way to disappearing from the crowd. It was a nice little morning for scouting out the place before hand. Ryan Mtn stands out from miles away.
Posted by Lon Overacker on April 19, 2010 at 5:08 PM
Great story Paul - Man, that Steve guy gets around!
I really like the soft color throughout this capture Paul as well as you comp in filling the frame. Excellent work.
Discussion
5 repliesThe image is of a large rock formation near the Ryan Mountain area of JTNP. I had already checked the sunrise time and angle and knew where I wanted to be when things were to take place. My brother Tom had made the wee hours of the morning trip with me before and was along in tow on this adventure too.
We arrived at the Ryan Mountain parking area in plenty of time for the sun's arrival. As we entered I noticed there was not one other car in the lot, this was rare even for a weekday out there. But, this just heightened the impending magic hour shooting time. We had the entire park to ourselves at this point. WOW, how neat was this going to be. As we got out of the vehicle and opened the rear hatch on my SUV to retrieve my photo backpack, whoosh !!, here came a roar into the eastern end of the parking lot where we had parked. Low and behold it was a herd of about 7 or 8 cars with one or two riders in each.
I felt like Spencer Tracey as Capt. Culpepper in "Mad, Mad, World" watching all the cars sliding in.
My brother was taken back by this and puzzled as to what was unfolding.
He said, "what the heck is this, it looks like a bunch of folks planning to hike Ryan Mountain, or it might be rock climbers".
I reassured him by saying, "no, wrong on both counts, it's much worse then that, it's a photog workshop".
Oh well, I knew where I was going to setup and ran for cover before the action started. Oddly though, the crowd seemed very quiet without any apparent leader yelling at the top of his/her lungs, "ok, the sun will be coming up in the east today, so we need to point over there".
Anyway, to shorten the story here I setup to take this image and while under the darkcloth on my 4x5 I kept seeing slight movement coming in on the left of the groundglass area. I thought just maybe a coyote poking in there, but no, for heaven sakes, it was part of the photog contingent with Steve Sieren amongst the group....
After I had packed up my gear in the vehicle I went to speak with the group and it was only then Steve and I even knew what had taken place....way too funny for me anyway. Turned out it was no "workshop" at all, just a bunch of photog friends out enjoying the sunrise too.
to JTNP, I mainly photograph the rock formations rather than the Joshua
Trees. Well done, Paul. I like it.
Paul
You know what I was thinking when I saw the movement, "These must be some deer or something but nope just two guys too close to the road." I was seriously thinking of standing on top of the rock before I knew you were there. Now you know why I take a little walk away from the parking lot Paul. Funny I didn't notice it was you as I walked by the first time on my way to disappearing from the crowd. It was a nice little morning for scouting out the place before hand. Ryan Mtn stands out from miles away.
I really like the soft color throughout this capture Paul as well as you comp in filling the frame. Excellent work.
Lon