Salt river temple

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 9, 2012248 views13 comments

This was shot yesterday. Well holy moly did I get an unexpected surprise this evening. What was forming into an incredibly undramatic evening turned into something otherworldly. I wasn't sure whether a thunderstorm was about to cross over the cliffs, but if it did, I was not in a good place. Luckily there was no thunder or lightning, but just out of nowhere when I wasn't paying attention to the cliffs and was shooting something else I saw this epic showcase of light over the mountain. This was one of the most unreal sights I have witnessed and really some of the best light I ever had. It only lasted about a minute, and I made sure I fired more than a few frames. I got a bit wet shooting here and had to wipe my lens off after each shot.
Two images blended for DOF.

Lower salt river, Arizona.

Canon 7d
Canon 17-40mm @17mm
ISO 100
f18
1/3 sec
2 stop and 3 stop grad ND filters
Tripod.

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on May 10, 2012 at 12:00 AM

Wow, that's beautiful Peter! You did a great job for only having the light for a minute! Awesome work!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on May 10, 2012 at 12:02 AM

Thanks Jenaya! I went back tonight as there were storms moving through, but nothing even close to this here.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on May 10, 2012 at 12:11 AM

Very nice image Peter. The lighting on the cliffs is stunning and I really like those ominous clouds over the mountain. The blend looks great. Well done.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on May 10, 2012 at 12:22 AM

Thanks Scott, those clouds really make the cliffs stand out even more here. Was fortunate to have such conditions.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Miller on May 10, 2012 at 12:48 AM

Love the ominous clouds, great light on this one and the blend looks spot on to me.

Registered on May 9, 2011, 23 Posts, 322 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on May 10, 2012 at 8:06 AM

The light is really sweet and the sky adds drama to the shot, also the little blur of water at the bottom of the image gives a foreground point of interest. Fine image. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Kurt Budliger on May 10, 2012 at 10:27 AM

Holy cow that's some killer light Peter. I might shave about 20% off the bottom to bring more emphasis on the mid-stream riffle.

Registered on June 11, 2006, 113 Posts, 2116 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on May 10, 2012 at 2:46 PM

Thanks guys. Kurt, like Richard mention, that swirl in the bottom corner gives some point of foreground interest. I will see about cropping it out.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on May 10, 2012 at 2:56 PM

That is some incredible light on the cliffs. The storm cloud above also adds to the drama of the whole scene. Beautiful capture Peter.

Registered on September 29, 2009, 137 Posts, 2659 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on May 10, 2012 at 4:08 PM

Peter, Well done. This is one of the better I have seen from the Salt. Great lighting to emphasize the mountain. The bottom circle of white water catches my eye, so my preference would be to crop it off.

Registered on April 1, 2010, 196 Posts, 1592 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on May 10, 2012 at 4:48 PM

Thanks Doug, Here is a cropped version of the shot.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Nicolaus Wegner on May 11, 2012 at 12:14 PM

Never heard of this river, which is awesome!

It's a very pretty photograph Peter. Looks like the wet lens was worth the effort.

Thanks for sharing a new and interesting place.

Registered on February 21, 2010, 133 Posts, 1509 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on May 12, 2012 at 8:21 PM

Quite a light show. I maybe like the reds in the finale sky better.

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