Well, when you drive by Shiprock roughly 500 times a year as I do, then you're bound to get lucky once in a while.
And when you always carry a camera as I do, then you're bound to hit a pot of gold!
Canon 5DII w/24-105 lens & polarizer @ 105mm
1/10 sec. @ f8 ISO 100
6:29 AM
Posted by Todd Caudle on August 5, 2010 at 7:44 PM
Luck? Yes. Grace? Sure. Preparedness? BINGO! This is an amazing image. I've never seen anything like it.
Posted by Erik Aagaard on August 5, 2010 at 7:52 PM
You know, it's amazing how those who are really good at something tend to have better "luck" than the rest of us!
Completely different circumstances, but the this reminds me a little of Galen Rowell's famous image.
Todd,
I also carry a tripod with me now 'cos I saw the same scene a few years ago and completely blew the shot by having to handhold the image.
Stan,
I'll consider that one. This is pretty dead on with color correction, but will work on pulling the cyan down some. Have most of you noted that western skies in the early morning and late evening always seem to have a cyan cast to them?
P.S. I hate you, too.
Love, John
Finally, I used a trial version of the Topaz DeNoise filter on this image, and I was completely blown away by the results! I haven't been this enthused by a PS plugin since the introduction of Nik SilverEfex. I only have about 3 plugins that I use, and one of 'em is about to be replaced. DeNoise is on sale this month for $49 (reg. $79) with the code DOUBLESPEED. End of product shill....
Unbelievable! This ranks up there with Gslen Rowell's shot of Potala Palace. Great effort in absolutely every aspect of this shot, John!
Posted by Joe Rogers on August 5, 2010 at 10:14 PM
John, you've reallly done it this time, bro. Utterly fantastic image..Keep on drivin, baby!
Joe Rogers
Posted by Roger Rouch on August 5, 2010 at 11:08 PM
Delightful to see, even if only in a photo! One of those great and rare moments when it all comes together. Quite incredible!
Posted by Jared Atencio on August 5, 2010 at 11:17 PM
If you "missed" the first attempt at this a few years ago and got another go at this type of situation, I woulda bought a lottery ticket or headed straight to Vegas if I were you. I guess a congrats are in order for finally getting this shot, and a great example of why you can't get a twice in a lifetime image like this if you aren't prepared. I'll get back to drooling over your shot now...
Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!
Way to be prepared and great execution of this fleeting moment. Big
I wonder how it would look with a little contrast added and a decrease in overall exposure by about a half stop or so. I'm on my laptop which, although calibrated, always seems a bit bright to me
Yep, this is indeed a very special image. You are one fortunate dude to record this amazing moment, John.
I do notice cyan in the skies out here and I frequently desaturate it in PP because I don't care for it. I do think this image would be even stronger if you removed some of the cyan from the sky.
Really an outstanding photo!
Posted by Howard Cihak on August 6, 2010 at 2:14 AM
"Chance favors the prepared mind," or something like that.
What can I add, John, to what so many others have already written? Utterly beautiful! Thanks for sharing it with those of us who will probably never get even one chance to see something like this.
Posted by Rajeev Thomas on August 6, 2010 at 2:35 AM
BEST PICTURE I have seen in looooooooong time!! God this is perfect!! John this is OUTSTANDING!
Posted by Paul DeCesare on August 6, 2010 at 3:03 AM
OK class, what have we learned here? Do you know how many times I hemmed and hawed in the morning on the way to work "should I bring my camera with me?", and often I go "nahhhhhh, nothing will happen today".
So Teacher John has taught us a superb lesson:
ALWAYS HAVE YOUR CAMERA WITH YOU.
ALWAYS HAVE YOUR CAMERA WITH YOU.
ALWAYS HAVE YOUR CAMERA WITH YOU.
And your tripod, even a used/cheaper one to keep in your car!
John, get a hold of Topaz, seriously, because we just saw the image they need to use in their next ad campaign as well as the packaging on the next release. A+ Buddy!!
Posted by Chris Martin on August 6, 2010 at 6:22 AM
Very nice!!!
Posted by Paul Wegemann on August 6, 2010 at 7:37 AM
How are you ever gonna top this one, John? I expect to see this on posters and magazines.
Posted by Dan Baumbach on August 6, 2010 at 8:08 AM
Posted by Doug Koepsel on August 6, 2010 at 11:16 AM
A couple of spectacular rainbow images are being posted from that region lately. Nice timing and execution, John! It is like the rainbow is a tractor beam pulling Shiprock out of the ground.
Maybe burn the sunlit point on the far left edge?
Posted by Joshua Hardin on August 6, 2010 at 11:19 AM
Outstanding photo! The timing and placement of the rainbow is perfect. At first glance I wondered about this before you confirmed it in your reply, but it looks like the noise correction was used maybe just a little too much since the foreground and middleground has sort of a telltale gelatin-like loss of detail in it (I've seen the same effect during my own experiments with Noise Ninja and Neat Image ). You might consider re-processing with a slightly lesser correction before posting to ESS.
Posted by Brian Jackson on August 6, 2010 at 11:31 AM
Once in a lifetime shot! Way cool. Nice capture.
Posted by Joseph Kayne on August 6, 2010 at 11:56 AM
Speechless and pickin up my jaw off my keyboard! So my guess is the chances of a rainbow dropping down on that rock are pretty slim to say the least and you managed to witness it twice!
Posted by Rick Schafer on August 6, 2010 at 1:27 PM
FANTASTIC !!!! I always wondered what the "pot of gold" was at the end of a rainbow. John........ looks like you really found it! I was just over in Shiprock the other week and the only "pot of gold" I found was a bowl of mutton stew at the Kentucky Fried Chicken there.
I was just over in Shiprock the other week and the only "pot of gold" I found was a bowl of motton stew at the Kentucky Fried Chicken there.
LMAO!!!
Nice to hear from you again, Rick!
Thanks so much again for the kind words and especially for the excellent tips and advice.
This was a quickie edit, and I really appreciate the time y'all took to chip in!
Posted by Pam Colander on August 6, 2010 at 3:17 PM
So John, how quickly are you getting this printed up??? What a truely deserved reward for your persistence at this spot An epic capture!
Posted by Grant Collier on August 6, 2010 at 3:48 PM
I don't know what everyone's so excited about. This shot is awful! I'll do you a favor and buy the full copyright of this image from you for $10 so as to save you the embarrassment of having a shot like this in your portfolio.
I might use your own Unsharp mask trick to give the image more pop (if you already did this, this would be one of the rare images where I'd do it twice or just bump up the settings to make the effect stronger). Might need a bit more sharpening, too, but since this was a quick edit, I'm sure you'll get it spot on. And since you probably won't fall for my above scam...Great Shot!
Posted by Guy Schmickle on August 6, 2010 at 5:04 PM
Dang, this is sweet John! Not much more I can add that hasn't already been said. I do like the suggestion to burn those bright clouds in the upper left as they're a tad bit distracting. Way to be prepared when the opportunity presented itself!
Posted by Kurt Bowman on August 6, 2010 at 6:22 PM
Are you freakin kidding me??? Awesome...awesome shot John....or should I say MR. MUMAW? No luck here...just aweseome preperation for the right moment. Just a fantastic shot
Discussion
43 repliesAnd when you always carry a camera as I do, then you're bound to hit a pot of gold!
Canon 5DII w/24-105 lens & polarizer @ 105mm
1/10 sec. @ f8 ISO 100
6:29 AM
Completely different circumstances, but the this reminds me a little of Galen Rowell's famous image.
Id like to see this on ESS-im guessing 60+ comments....
EDIT: but pull back the cyan in the clouds first...
Todd,
I also carry a tripod with me now 'cos I saw the same scene a few years ago and completely blew the shot by having to handhold the image.
Stan,
I'll consider that one. This is pretty dead on with color correction, but will work on pulling the cyan down some. Have most of you noted that western skies in the early morning and late evening always seem to have a cyan cast to them?
P.S. I hate you, too.
Love, John
Finally, I used a trial version of the Topaz DeNoise filter on this image, and I was completely blown away by the results! I haven't been this enthused by a PS plugin since the introduction of Nik SilverEfex. I only have about 3 plugins that I use, and one of 'em is about to be replaced. DeNoise is on sale this month for $49 (reg. $79) with the code DOUBLESPEED. End of product shill....
Thanks again!
Joe Rogers
Way to be prepared and great execution of this fleeting moment. Big
I wonder how it would look with a little contrast added and a decrease in overall exposure by about a half stop or so. I'm on my laptop which, although calibrated, always seems a bit bright to me
I do notice cyan in the skies out here and I frequently desaturate it in PP because I don't care for it. I do think this image would be even stronger if you removed some of the cyan from the sky.
Really an outstanding photo!
What can I add, John, to what so many others have already written? Utterly beautiful! Thanks for sharing it with those of us who will probably never get even one chance to see something like this.
So Teacher John has taught us a superb lesson:
ALWAYS HAVE YOUR CAMERA WITH YOU.
ALWAYS HAVE YOUR CAMERA WITH YOU.
ALWAYS HAVE YOUR CAMERA WITH YOU.
And your tripod, even a used/cheaper one to keep in your car!
John, get a hold of Topaz, seriously, because we just saw the image they need to use in their next ad campaign as well as the packaging on the next release. A+ Buddy!!
- Dan.
Thanks for the Denoise tip- will give it a try!
Maybe burn the sunlit point on the far left edge?
LMAO!!!
Nice to hear from you again, Rick!
Thanks so much again for the kind words and especially for the excellent tips and advice.
This was a quickie edit, and I really appreciate the time y'all took to chip in!
I might use your own Unsharp mask trick to give the image more pop (if you already did this, this would be one of the rare images where I'd do it twice or just bump up the settings to make the effect stronger). Might need a bit more sharpening, too, but since this was a quick edit, I'm sure you'll get it spot on. And since you probably won't fall for my above scam...Great Shot!
one of those once in a lifetime photos, nicely done!
(I always have my tripod in my car, but that's because I don't want to carry it up and down three flights of stairs all the time!)