The High Desert Landscape - With Repost/Correction

I wanted an image of the High Desert that gave a sense of the place and was also visually compelling. The problem, and also primary reason the region is generally overlooked by photographers, is the arid and mostly flat landscape elements offering little color or intrigue. Still, this land welcomes me every time I visit. I love the vast wide open, hardy Juniper and Ponderosa as well as unusual volcanic features. This image was several years in the making. I didn't just stumble upon this spot, I had driven past on dirt roads a dozen times before. This lone Ponderosa growing far away from it's brothers atop a rocky outcrop near Pine Mountain finally drew me over to explore it. Once I did I found the surroundings typical of the High Desert, and not tremendously complimentary. I worked with what I had though. I waited until sunset when the light (sun diffused by high clouds) had positioned itself directly behind the old tree in the distance and photographed the rocky foreground and sagebrush below. I used a 3-stop hard grad to control the exposure.

Nice shot Marc...the sky is nice and bright, but not too bright, and the forground elements display the chaos of this region perfectly. I say it's a decent rendition of Oregon's Deserts.

Given how barren this land is, this is a really great "sense of place" photo. I love your use of wide angle, Marc. You really have this perspective mastered. Only thing I would do if I'm ever able to compose a photo like this would be to dodge the hill a bit so that it was not quite so dark - that is the only thing that says "Grad was used here" to me.

Didn't think anyone would notice. I had not done any dodging there, so it looks like some is in order.

Given the stated purpose, I'd say the image is a very clear success. However, given the constraints imposed by this particular environment, why not try something a little more conceptual to create the intended sense of place and feel?

The example that come first to mind is Kenna. His shots of very ordinary ocean and bleak snow scenes are very compelling despite the blandness of the subject matter. Sugimoto's seascapes would be a very extreme example.

Here's the Kenna that came to mind (love this book): Still Morning, Obama, Honshu, Japan. 2002

And Sugimoto: Sugimoto Seascape

T.

Mark,
This is a nice perspective and I think with a little more processing on this would make it really be cool. As John said, the hill and the left could use a little lightening. Is that caused by the hard grad?

Thomas, I'm very familiar with Kenna's work. The high desert landscape is notably missing from his portfolios. Too complex. Too detailed. No water, no barren expanses. It would take fog, snow or something to simplify the scene. Kenna seaches for very particular conditions that can be found in many landscapes that all create mood first utilizing simple compositions and strong forms. His work is easily recognizable and truly excellent. It's not mine though. I want paint a portait of a landscape for the viewer as well as capturing something visually compelling in many of my images. I'm not real big into abstracts, though Kenna proves they can be extrodinary and beautiful.

Oh yeah - John, yes. It is a Ponderosa. Maybe a Juniper-wanna-be Ponderosa, but inspection onsite proved conclusively what I had expected from the branchless trunk seen from a distance. Erik - yes. It's from the hard grad. A simple retouch should take care of the darkening.

A nice image - nice work Adam! No nits here.

Kevin

I really like this Marc! I think you captured the essence of the high desert extremely well here, I particularly like the tree silhouetted against the trademark Adamus dramatic sky. Well done.

Nice shot, the photo is so detailed. The tone of the photo is so mysterious

One of my favorite environments and you've captured it well. The small splash of color from the lichen on the FG rock is an important addition, IMO. However, the obvious grad line is distracting to me.

I'm surprised so many people noticed the grad line. Guess I'm just used to seeing them in images (Rowell, Wolfe, ect.) as many notable photographers always accepted them as necessary. I guess it would be silly not to correct it now that we have the tools to do so though. I've included a retouch that eliminates the line.

Sweet, Marc. Now everything is perfect. Such a difficult composition with the foreground being in similar color tones, but you found a shot that really works. It's interesting to me how cropping anything off the bottom messes up the relationship of elements in the photo.

Exactly, John. Such is the way on critique forums.

Grad lines are one of the first things I look for when critiquing an image for its technical merits, whether it's mine or someone else's. When they are real obvious it takes the image down a notch, IMO. Like you said, Marc, "I guess it would be silly not to correct it now that we have the tools to do so...". Your corrected version is definitely better.

Yep, the corrected version is even better.

Bleak and beautiful, Marc.
Those colors really convey so much about the place. Excellent work!

I've looked and looked at this, trying to figure out what it is I'm missing that everyone else is seeing... and I still don't see it. The sky is nice although I think there is too much of it. The color of the plants and bushes is good. But that foreground just stops this image in my opinion. I can't get past having that rock and bush be right at eye level as you look at the image. I'm well aware of having a foreground object in a scenic shot like this, but those are not usually almost blocking the background scene. The way it is here, the foreground over powers the background tree and makes it seem almost insignificant as if it's not worth trying to look over the foreground area to see it.

Maybe it's just the uphill shot that throws it off for me. Or maybe it's that bush right on top of the rock in front that blocks to much of the distant vision. I don't know, but I'm just not seeing what everyone else is seeing. It's not a bad shot by any means, just not my idea of a great shot.

Mike

No, not a GREAT shot I agree. It's an almost impossible area to compose images and I believe it works as well as it could but still not as compelling as many others. I would put it in my second-rate file. The reason for the unusually low perspective was these rocks and sage were perched on the edge of a 6-foot rock I was barely able to look over the top of while shooting. It took 5 minutes of messing with the tripod and even building a little rock support for it just to get this perspective! Admitidly, I would like to have been a few inches higher but didn't bring the ladder.

I might add that while I do have a favored style, many of my best shots (Ocean's Fury, Ecola Sunbeams, Temple of the Clouds, ect. ect.) were taken with long lenses and little foreground. While most photographers have a favored style and tools it's good to be able to see the bigger picture and use the everything the landscape has has to offer.

It's not a matter of liking or not liking Marc's "style" John. Marc has some pretty good images he's shown. But the perspective on this one is hard for me to get past. Now that he's explained it, I can understand it a bit better, but that darn rock and bush still get in my way. Actually, I think it's the bush more than the rocks. If it was the rock by itself, there would be a smooth transition from foreground to background. Well, there is that big hump up near the top, but one obstical at a time.

Mike

Very nice Marc. Most people include a FG subject without ever thinking how that FG fits with the rest of the environment. At least you give the thought and tie it into the rest of the scene.

How can you possibly go wrong if you include Jirka rocks in the FG :-)? Incidentally, is Mark H. still selling "Jirka Rocks"?

Regards, Simon

Simon,
We had a business falling out. He was holding out on my royalties.

I think he is working on a contract for Utah sandstone now.

I heard he is writing a book about the yellow sandstone in Utah, under the pen name I.P. Freely.

Personally, I think you should dodge the tops of the main bush a little to help it stand out more. Maybe even do the same to the surfaces of the large rocks around it to sculpt them. Then burn the smaller bushes just a tad to knock them back. Popping the top of the big bush out from the similar tone directly behind it would give the scene a bit more three dimensional depth.