Marble Cathedral

Gallery: LandscapePosted January 6, 2010280 views11 comments

This a very unique place in Patagonia. On some coastline cliffs at the General Carrera Lake, the water action carved these astonishing caves and galleries. Mostly marble rocks, hence the white. But what I wanted to show in this photo was the combination of the emerald colored waters of the lake (glacial sediments) and the carvings on the stone.

Technical data: (18mm, 1/30s, F/11, ISO 400).

It was a cloudy-gray day and since visits to this area are only available by boat, there was no chance to use a tripod. I used a moderate depth of field, sacrificing sharpness in the foreground (which was under water anyway), and focusing on the background. To keep a minimum speed of 1/30s I pushed ISO to 400. I enhanced light a bit on PS.

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on January 6, 2010 at 9:52 AM

This looks a like the entrance to a dragon's gullet. Very unusual and interesting. My only thought might be a little better balance of light to even out the light and dark places.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Richins on January 6, 2010 at 10:06 AM

This is cool. The water's fascinating, and the cracks on the ceiling have an abstract look of bats to me. The bright areas on the right wall pull my eye a bit, but that could be fixed (if you want).

Registered on March 6, 2008, 113 Posts, 1009 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Sieren on January 6, 2010 at 11:01 AM

Hi Rodrigo,
I have seen your other work inside of these caves, which is very nice. It very nice to finally see the caves here on the NPN site. Thanks for pioneering that for us. I can imaging how tough it would be to shoot these caves from a moving boat in low light. Maybe renting some kind of gyro or bushhawk might help on your next visit.

I love that transition from turquoize to gold in the water, the detail in the cave is amazing especially up at the top. Thanks for sharing and hope to see some more of your series from the Patagonia Caves.

Steve

Registered on January 2, 2008, 360 Posts, 5321 Comments

Comment posted by Phil Pogledich on January 6, 2010 at 11:49 AM

I've seen some shots of this area previously and hope to visit one day. Such a remarkable place! I like your composition and the shot generally, though I do find some areas to be a bit bright.

Registered on August 24, 2009, 123 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by Justin Reznick on January 6, 2010 at 1:14 PM

Beautiful greens. Would love to see it sharper, but of course you gave an explanation for that! I would darken the wall on the right a bit. Beautiful and unique image!

Registered on November 24, 2009, 79 Posts, 515 Comments

Comment posted by Rodrigo Sandoval on January 6, 2010 at 4:59 PM

Agreed with all of you regarding the whites on the right side. I went back to the original Raw and handled contrast and lighting more thoroughly. finally here's the improved version.

Thanks for the feedback.

Rodrigo

Registered on April 4, 2009, 13 Posts, 254 Comments

Comment posted by Anthony Vincent on January 6, 2010 at 7:04 PM

Ohh the possibilities here. Wonderful shot Rodrigo and this is definitely on my top list of places to visit before I die. Mostly for the land textures and scenes like this. Well done.
The whites do seem a little hot though.

Registered on February 5, 2009, 199 Posts, 2775 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on January 6, 2010 at 8:01 PM

What a cool shot! Love the striking colors especially. My only complaint is that i would prefer it sharp from front to back, which i think you could have done either at f/11 or f/16 if need be.

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Rudy Ruberti on January 6, 2010 at 8:44 PM

The repost is an improvement. Cool scene.

Registered on October 28, 2008, 179 Posts, 1875 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Anderson on January 6, 2010 at 9:53 PM

Awesome Rodrigo. I've been wanting to visit this spot for years, but conditions are rarely conducive to photography. You certainly took advantage of great conditions and came away with a beautiful image. The greens in the lake are amazing.

Registered on January 31, 2006, 228 Posts, 3072 Comments

Comment posted by Helio Cristovao on January 9, 2010 at 8:25 PM

a dreamscape Rodrigo! I´ve been shooting into caves lately also, love this, great scenery here. Repost is way better on light balancing.

Registered on September 15, 2009, 83 Posts, 434 Comments