Cholla on the Footsteps

Gallery: LandscapePosted March 18, 2011167 views5 comments

Back in January, I had just finished processing this image when the screen broke on my laptop. A couple days later, the restaurant I worked at suddenly closed and subsequent financial struggles prevented me from fixing my laptop and forcing me into an involuntary hiatus from photography. Finally my laptop is fixed and I'm back in the game! As for the photo, it's kind of a cliche Superstition Mountains shot, but I like to think I've thrown my own unique style into it. I shot a couple other chollas under similar light, but this one seemed to be the winner.Comments/critiques welcome!

Canon T1i @ 21mm
ISO 100
f/22
1/2 second
Lightroom raw conversion, luminosity masks in CS5, all that good stuff
Cloned out some contrails in the upper right corner

Comments

5 comments

Comment posted by Christine Jackson on March 18, 2011 at 8:08 AM

Jake,

Sorry to hear about your situation. Your image is awesome! The composition you used is excellent--really enjoy the similar shapes in the saguaro cactus as they are repeated in some of the rock formations of the Superstitions (vertical shapes). Well Done!

Jim Jackson
Denver, Colorado

Registered on September 19, 2010, 20 Posts, 244 Comments

Comment posted by Jason Risinger on March 18, 2011 at 8:10 PM

Hey, cliche or not, this is still good stuff. The Arizona desert is a special place to me, so thanks for sharing your work. So glad to hear that you're "back in the game." Hope your financial struggles work out soon too.

Registered on July 13, 2010, 13 Posts, 91 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on March 18, 2011 at 10:36 PM

Very nice light indeed, Jake. The cholla has a nice glow to it.. Could maybe see burning the clouds on the right try to pull out a bit more texture.

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

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on March 19, 2011 at 4:46 PM

Jake,

This is quite a wonderful landscape and I'm surprised has not received more comments. The light on the cholla is wonderful as is the light throughout the landscape. The large version pops very nicely and you have a very complimentary sky.

the only suggestion I can think of is to tone down the brights on the right side of the frame. But really, that's the direction and source of the light, so it works and is not really a distraction for me.

I think this is an excellent image from the Superstitions.

Sorry about the job and laptop. Hope all is looking up!

Lon

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

Comment posted by Jake Case on March 19, 2011 at 5:26 PM

Glad to hear the positive feedback! Tony and Lon: thanks for mentioning the clouds on the right. I'll give them another round of burning. And yes, things are looking up. I'm back to working full time between two jobs, one of which is a paid internship at Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument!

Registered on December 13, 2010, 38 Posts, 167 Comments