Day 7 is our last full day of shooting for the trip. From the day’s selects I’ve picked 2 from our mid-day scouting and three from another afternoon shoot at Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes.
These two ladies are part of a tour group on a day trip out of Las Vegas. They had chosen to sit and wait while the rest of their group explored Artist’s Pallet. When I saw the green blouse on the lady on the right I couldn’t resist taking a picture because of how well her blouse’s color matched the color in the rock.
The light is a little harsh. Artistically it’s not much, it’s more of a snap shot; but I like it. Here is the shooting metadata for this image:
D200 with 24-70 @ 26mm
1/1600@ f/2.8 ISO 100
Matrix, Aperture Priority, Comp 0
Handheld
In the early part of the afternoon we had some time to kill before the good light would hit Mesquite Flats. So we took a off-road drive on the road that runs behind camp grounds at Stovepipe Wells. This leads to Marble Canyon. Along the way I spotted this petroglyph. I don’t think its origin is native. It was probably made by a modern explorer that used a rock to peck dots into the patina coating revealing the lighter rock below. Someone took quite a while to produce this two figure, man and antelope??, petroglyph. Even if this is a rouse, the creator was dedicated about it’s creation.
Here I chose to include the cracks in the rock to frame the figures. The cool light of the shade enhanced the blue of the rock.
Here is the shooting metadata for this image:
D200 with 24-70 @ 52mm
1/40 sec @ f/2.8 ISO 100
Matrix, Aperture Priority, Comp +1
Handheld
Now onto the images I’m really excited about sharing with you; the ones from the late afternoon at Mesquite Flats Sand Dunes.
I thought I’d share one more environmental type shot from the sand dunes. Besides the nice quality light (intense, low angled, directional, and warm toned) I liked how the shape of the dunes mimicked the shape of the mountains in the background. However I wish there was more tonal or color separation between the dunes and the mountains so the mountains would form a distinct middle ground.
Here is the shooting metadata for this image:
D200 with 12-24@ 24mm
1/8 sec @ f/14 ISO 100
Matrix, Aperture Priority, Comp 0
2 Stop GND
Now I want to share a couple images that are a little more abstract. Extracting only a portion of a dune.
In this image I liked the way the different patterns in the sand were creating different sections in the image. I positioned the camera so the foreground lines would lead to the mesquite bush and the patterns in the sand that go around it. And of course, there is the warm light hitting the dead mesquite bush making it the brightest thing in the image, allowing it to acting as an anchor.
Here is the shooting metadata for this image:
D200 with 12-24@ 22mm
1/2 sec @ f/20 ISO 100
Matrix, Aperture Priority, Comp +1 1/3
This is an image without any one element that stands out as the subject. And if it were shown on it’s own (without the context of the other images from the sand dunes) it would difficult to figure out exactly what it is. So its pretty abstract. There is the dominate set of lines running from the LRC (lower right corner) to the HLC. And that is broken by an undulation that forms a line that runs from the HRC to roughly the middle of the image. And the small patch of shadow in the HRC balances the big shadow in the LLC. So I think this image engages the viewer even thought it doesn’t have a dominate subject.
Since this image was about light, tone and contrast I decided to show this as a monochrome. (In spite of the beautiful warm light that is evident in the color version.)
I’d love to hear what you think. BTW, it’s ok to tell me, “Your full of xhit.” But if you do, you need to explain why you think that. There will be only one more instalment in this Death Valley series.
Here is the shooting metadata for this image:
D200 with 12-24@ 17mm
1/2 sec @ f/20 ISO 100
Matrix, Aperture Priority, Comp + 2/3