The Confluence + Repost

Gallery: LandscapePosted December 9, 2010218 views15 comments

This is an aerial shot over the Needles District of Canyonlands NP of the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. It was remarkable to me that I could actually see the two rivers by the slight variation in color.
This view was presented in the first 15 minutes of our flight on a teeny plane with a lawnmower for an engine. About 2 minutes after the photo, I discovered that motion sickness isn't just in my head...it's in my stomach. I was nauseous the rest of the flight including when the engine cut out and we glided for about an hour (my husband assures me it was less than a minute) into Monument Valley. It is well worth the flight from Moab, but bring the dramamine!
Thanks for looking,
Anne

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Peter Richter on December 10, 2010 at 4:27 AM

Your picture shows a very original view, that comes near to an abstraction. The colors are rather specific, I think, so maybe we should not alter them too much in the digital darkroom; yet the contrast could be more pronounced in my opinion.

Peter

Registered on November 10, 2010, 218 Posts, 2723 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Anderson on December 10, 2010 at 5:13 AM

Wow, sounds like a great adventure! Must be cool to see the confluence from so high up.

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

Comment posted by Raymond D Smith on December 10, 2010 at 8:32 AM

Sounds like quite an adventure. You really get a sense of scale being in the air for this photo. The two river colours is pretty cool. Cheers

Registered on January 22, 2009, 12 Posts, 479 Comments

Comment posted by Jason Miles Kirk on December 10, 2010 at 8:33 AM

Nicely composed Anne - I like it. The contrast and colors are a bit flat though. Maybe dropping your shadows and boosting the saturation might help the impact of this image. On another note - a black and white treatment would be ideal I think.

Registered on January 9, 2007, 7 Posts, 55 Comments

Comment posted by Lori Kincaid on December 10, 2010 at 8:42 AM

What a treat to get to see this scene from above. Nice job composing this on the fly, as it were!

Lori

Registered on November 15, 2003, 90 Posts, 2033 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Gomez on December 10, 2010 at 9:42 AM

Great areal view! I can definitely see the color differences where the rivers meet. I like the shapes too.
Try not to get so sick next time.

Registered on March 3, 2007, 206 Posts, 1853 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on December 10, 2010 at 10:03 AM

Excellent composition. I was there just a few weeks ago (hiked in from the Maze side). One of the best images of the confluence that I've seen, though I think it could use a little more processing though. In particular, pull back on the green channel a bit and set the dark point a little darker.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on December 10, 2010 at 1:42 PM

Wonderful abstract. The layout is great. I agree with Guy about the post processing. A little less green and maybe some more read would make this even stronger.

- Dan.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 10, 2010 at 2:54 PM

Anne,

A unique, wonderful and graphic view. Excellent job composing this from the air - sorry about the air sickness.... gliding for an hour eh? must have been real quiet.

Agree about some tweaking in the processing, but considering the time of day and light there's not much more you need to do other than perhaps what Guy is suggesting.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on December 10, 2010 at 5:28 PM

I think Guy has it dead on for excellent comp and touch more on the processing. Cool shot.

Registered on May 7, 2007, 670 Posts, 19650 Comments

Comment posted by Anne K. Rusk on December 10, 2010 at 8:58 PM

Thanks so much for your feedback! I really appreciate the info! I have tinkered with this some more and reposted for your comments. Thank you so much for taking the time!
Anne

Registered on October 10, 2010, 65 Posts, 904 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Roane on December 11, 2010 at 2:14 AM

I know what you mean about the motion sickness, Anne. I've flown on alot of small planes, but I took this same aerial tour over Canyonlands in June and was in trouble after the first 15 minutes! Pretty hard to take pictures in that state, isn't it?

As far as the photo, it's a great perspective and good comp - would be great if we could get the pilots out during better light, though, which is always a frustration to me with commercial tours - they are really not geared to photographers, unfortunately.

Registered on December 12, 2008, 213 Posts, 2226 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on December 11, 2010 at 7:48 AM

The repost looks great, Anne! I like the contrast and the detail appears much more defined.

Guy