Back in March I was visiting Lone Pine and disobeyed a new commandment in my photography method: scout first! The night before I treated myself to a relatively comfy room at the Best Western and stayed up late watching HBO. Come morning I didn't want to get out of bed, kept hitting the snooze bar and by the time I got out to the AH the sky was already starting to light up.
Beforehand I also had the idea that I'd like to find a different perspective than my previous trip here, so I wanted to stay a little further south, closer to Whitney Portal Road. Well it turns out there isn't that much over there that works as a good fore- or middle-ground. At least not that I could find in my 6am pre-coffee stupor. But the light was decent so I wanted to come home with something, so I went with a standard layered comp. It just doesn't make much sense to me with only half a mid-ground. Next time!!
New part of my method: camp. It's easier to get out of bed in the morning; there's no TV to go back to, so you might as well go do some night photography; and the price is right.
I have some images from a trip up to the Sierras this last weekend that I want to process and post, but my motherboard/CPU is sorta fried and Photoshop (among other things) crashes after a few minutes. So I'll have to take a short break from posting images, unfortunately
Posted by Anish Desai on June 16, 2010 at 10:03 AM
The AH is such a challenging place to shoot. I've spent a lot of time scouting that area, with not a whole lot to show for it. My current approach there is to scout the day before, then camp near my chosen location so when my alarm goes off I can just hop out of the truck and walk to my spot. You've got some great light here, but I think this image is really in need of a strong FG element to set it apart, especially since this view of the peaks is so frequently photographed. Processing-wise, I might go a touch warmer and bring up the FG 1/2-1 stop.
The A Hills have an enormous bounty of opportunity for good comps. But like anywhere, you need to look around. I don't need to post my versions of this image with good FG to make my point, they are on my site. However, unpredictable conditions often result in trips there with no keepers. You gotta go back often!
FWIW I have one place scouted, GPS coords saved, for next time. The comps are there, but I would agree w/ Anish that it's fairly challenging to make something compelling and original.
Nice one as captured. The light and color on the crest is awesome! In this particular one and the "search for a foreground," how about cropping for a nice pano? The length of the crest all lit up almost begs for it. Otherwise, I'd try brightening up the foreground brush as Anish suggested.
Another tip for scouting is planning your trips for the setting moon, crescent or full. :-)
I heard a great suggestion recently for breaking out of old patterns. Many landscape photographers (myself included) usually find a background and then search for a foreground to put in it, often with dubious results. Instead, find the foreground first and the search for the background. It's very difficult, especially with Whitney calling.....but can lead to different and interesting photos.
From 395 on the North end of the AH is a road ( Ranch is in the name ) just past or before ( depending on which way your coming from) the Owens River bridge. This road meets Movie Road joins it and goes completely through the AH and takes you up for a great high view first then down by the large flat parking area for the Mobius Arch. I spent a nice morning taking images with Tony there ( can't remember exactly the month ). From that parking lot are numerous sideroads that lead closer to the fascinating eroded granite formations. Further in on Portal road just below LP Creek campground in a nice spot to the right on a dirt track. The three major peaks LP, Whitney and Williamson are in view. There are two granite boulder piles there one on each side of the creek. Lone Pine Creek Campground is not a bad spot either, I got the full moon setting behind Whitney in August there. ( Which it does every August by the way ). Above LP Creek Campground if you pull of on a turnout for the Portal Road and Head South. You have great views of LP Peak and Whitney especially if you walk all the way over to Lone Pine Creek Canyon. If I've bored anyone silly with my travelouge sorry I can't help myself when I start talking about the AH and the surrounding area.
After you turn off the Whitney Portal Road to Lone Pine Creek CG, and just before bearing right and down to the sites, there is an old fire road that goes off in a SW direction. There are nice spots out there, and the silence is golden. Desert Mosaic
The road with 'Ranch' in its name is called Moffat Ranch Rd. Paul is correct about the area--it is quite beautiful. It is a left turn (if you're headed north), about a mile or so North of Lone Pine.
I really like the idea Tony mentions regarding finding a good foreground and then work in the back ground.
One of my favorite spots is just off the Whitney Portal Road. Assuming you heading west toward the mountains, look for Olivas Ranch Road (on your left). Almost directly accross the street is a small dirt road that heads north. You'll see a collection of light colored granite boulders out in the sage. Go across a wash (4x4 recommended) into the boulder flat beyond. If you keep going a litlle further the road ends at a campsite just above Lone Pine Creek. Field of Stones
Matt, with the image in question, a 3-stop soft ND Grad would have really helped pull up the foreground. You might try to select the foreground and use a curves layer to bring it up a bit. Be careful; the values there are pretty low and too much correction may generate noise. The light on the mountains is fabulous!
Why do you need a foreground? Sounds formulaic to me Don't let the camera format be your boss. Crop it panoramic and call it good. Works quite nicely for me.
Good point about foregrounds. If I see another cover of Outdoor Photographer with a gnarly piece of wood in the foreground I might puke. I think foregrounds work best when they draw the viewer into the photo, when they direct the eyes towards the background. All too often you see an interesting foreground and a beautiful background, but from a composition standpoint, they aren't connected and really don't flow together. This seems to be the landscape photography style du jour.
That being said, the exercise I suggested above is a great one for just scrambling your brain and learning new ways to "see".
Discussion
9 repliesBeforehand I also had the idea that I'd like to find a different perspective than my previous trip here, so I wanted to stay a little further south, closer to Whitney Portal Road. Well it turns out there isn't that much over there that works as a good fore- or middle-ground. At least not that I could find in my 6am pre-coffee stupor. But the light was decent so I wanted to come home with something, so I went with a standard layered comp. It just doesn't make much sense to me with only half a mid-ground. Next time!!
New part of my method: camp. It's easier to get out of bed in the morning; there's no TV to go back to, so you might as well go do some night photography; and the price is right.
I have some images from a trip up to the Sierras this last weekend that I want to process and post, but my motherboard/CPU is sorta fried and Photoshop (among other things) crashes after a few minutes. So I'll have to take a short break from posting images, unfortunately
Nice one as captured. The light and color on the crest is awesome! In this particular one and the "search for a foreground," how about cropping for a nice pano? The length of the crest all lit up almost begs for it. Otherwise, I'd try brightening up the foreground brush as Anish suggested.
Another tip for scouting is planning your trips for the setting moon, crescent or full. :-)
Lon
From 395 on the North end of the AH is a road ( Ranch is in the name ) just past or before ( depending on which way your coming from) the Owens River bridge. This road meets Movie Road joins it and goes completely through the AH and takes you up for a great high view first then down by the large flat parking area for the Mobius Arch. I spent a nice morning taking images with Tony there ( can't remember exactly the month ). From that parking lot are numerous sideroads that lead closer to the fascinating eroded granite formations. Further in on Portal road just below LP Creek campground in a nice spot to the right on a dirt track. The three major peaks LP, Whitney and Williamson are in view. There are two granite boulder piles there one on each side of the creek. Lone Pine Creek Campground is not a bad spot either, I got the full moon setting behind Whitney in August there. ( Which it does every August by the way ). Above LP Creek Campground if you pull of on a turnout for the Portal Road and Head South. You have great views of LP Peak and Whitney especially if you walk all the way over to Lone Pine Creek Canyon. If I've bored anyone silly with my travelouge sorry I can't help myself when I start talking about the AH and the surrounding area.
Paul
The road with 'Ranch' in its name is called Moffat Ranch Rd. Paul is correct about the area--it is quite beautiful. It is a left turn (if you're headed north), about a mile or so North of Lone Pine.
I really like the idea Tony mentions regarding finding a good foreground and then work in the back ground.
One of my favorite spots is just off the Whitney Portal Road. Assuming you heading west toward the mountains, look for Olivas Ranch Road (on your left). Almost directly accross the street is a small dirt road that heads north. You'll see a collection of light colored granite boulders out in the sage. Go across a wash (4x4 recommended) into the boulder flat beyond. If you keep going a litlle further the road ends at a campsite just above Lone Pine Creek.
Field of Stones
Matt, with the image in question, a 3-stop soft ND Grad would have really helped pull up the foreground. You might try to select the foreground and use a curves layer to bring it up a bit. Be careful; the values there are pretty low and too much correction may generate noise. The light on the mountains is fabulous!
--P
That being said, the exercise I suggested above is a great one for just scrambling your brain and learning new ways to "see".