Hieroglyphic Sun

Gallery: LandscapePosted September 8, 2011355 views13 comments

This is my first successful photography outing since moving to the Phoenix area a couple weeks ago. With temps consistently above 110 degrees F outside, the going can get pretty brutal, especially when trying to get out in the desert with enough time to find comps before the best light comes around. This specific shot was taken in the Hieroglyphic Mountains, on the ridgeline below a relatively small desert peak called Baldy Mountain. About three months ago, I was in the same area and took this shot: [url]http://www.naturephotographers.net/imagecritique/ic.cgi?a=vp&pr=175729&CGISESSID=c3cf28dd099ee366f3c7c361cccff52d&u=22235[url]
The shot I am posting here is similar to the previous one, but I believe it is much better. I hand-blended three exposures, plus blended two foreground exposures to eliminate some lens flare and haziness while retaining the sunstar. All comments and critiques are welcome!

Canon T1i @ 20mm
.5, 1/6, 1/15 of a second exposures
ISO 100
f/22

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on September 8, 2011 at 5:18 PM

Love the sun rays breaking over the horizon, and the backlit glow you captured in the cholla is super, as is that in the far saguros. Beautiful colors in the sky as well. Your blending work was quite successful to my eye. A really nice image. That heat has to be tough.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Cam Held on September 8, 2011 at 5:23 PM

Great work with the blending, as you said much more successful than the last one!

-Cam

Registered on November 12, 2009, 59 Posts, 398 Comments

Comment posted by Martin W. Quinn on September 8, 2011 at 5:44 PM

First off welcome to Phoenix, I just moved here myself a little over a month ago. I understand exactly what you are saying about the brutal heat even at or near sunset. Luckily they are saying it will get better in the next few days.

Great job blending, I really like it but then again I am a sucker for backlit Cholla.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 28 Posts, 189 Comments

Comment posted by Joel Hazelton on September 8, 2011 at 6:26 PM

Great shot Jake! Awesome composition, wonderful light. I would darken the shadows a bit- it looks heavily dodged, particularly in the foreground.

Registered on August 6, 2008, 194 Posts, 1315 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on September 8, 2011 at 7:26 PM

Fantastic backlighting on those cholla, Jake. I really like the sunstar in this desert scene along with the warmth in the clouds. What do you think of a crop of about a third of the sky? I think most of the good stuff is in the lower 2/3's. Just a suggestion of course.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Yiming Hu on September 8, 2011 at 7:42 PM

Good blending job. The sun-star effect is very attractive.

Registered on April 28, 2011, 38 Posts, 733 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on September 8, 2011 at 8:26 PM

Glad you stuck out the heat Jake, this came together very nicely. Good job on the blend.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 221 Posts, 5985 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on September 8, 2011 at 10:51 PM

Nice, Jake. The overall lighting is really nice and the backlit cacti a good focal point. You'll have to change your signature to reflect your new locations.

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

Comment posted by Morris McClung on September 9, 2011 at 9:28 AM

A fine comp and a nice moment captured. Very well done.

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

Comment posted by Jeffry Oonk on September 10, 2011 at 2:35 PM

Beautiful.
Great DOF
Thx
Jef

Registered on February 5, 2011, 21 Posts, 122 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Harding on September 10, 2011 at 8:22 PM

This is a great shot and you have done a very good job with the blend but I do feel that it would be a better image if the upper sky had more color depth and maybe richer blue.

Registered on January 19, 2011, 33 Posts, 408 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Goldwasser on September 11, 2011 at 11:46 AM

Really nice job with the blending, looks like tough lighting conditions! The glowing cholla and sun star are both quite nice. I might be tempted to go with a more square crop - the blue sky doesn't add much for me.

Registered on May 10, 2009, 127 Posts, 970 Comments

Comment posted by Rudy Ruberti on September 12, 2011 at 8:03 PM

Great light and processing. Nicely done.

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