Earthen Vessels

Gallery: LandscapePosted August 15, 2012616 views30 comments

Please view the LARGER VERSION.

When I'm out taking images I like to walk around and find the best composition. This is a small lake in Yellowstone surrounded by mud and grass mounds. There was a muddy creek entering beside me that I wanted to cross to check out the other side of the lake. As I stepped on the bank of the creek I sank with both feet clear up to my crotch in mud. Glad nobody was around to see that. With camera bag over my shoulder and camera still attached to my tripod I dragged myself out of the mud hole by grabbing the solid shoreline. It took all I had to pull my self out. It's a good thing I had something solid to grab onto. My pants and boots were caked with mud. I could have used a putty knife or a pressure washer at this point. Everything I had on me was muddy, you name it. As I approached the car my wife who was waiting for me thought to herself, "I thought he wore blue jeans, where did he get those brown pants." As I got closer she advised me that there was no way I was getting into the car with those pants on. I agreed, new car, no way was that happening.

Did muddy pants stop me from taking pictures? Heck no! What did stop me? Having to drive home in my underwear. Seeing some guy taking pictures in his underwear, that's just TMI, although I was thinking about it. From now on I'll take along an extra pair of pants. You never know what you're going to need.

You'll notice in the larger image I have a bit of banding going on. If anyone has any suggestions on dealing with banding let me know. I tried a layer with noise but that didn't solve the problem. Thanks.

Canon 5d2 with 17-40mm lens, .6@f16, ISO 50

Comments

30 comments

Comment posted by David Edwards on August 15, 2012 at 3:16 AM

A really nice shot Dean. Great story to go with this one. I can only image what was said as you suddenly sank into that mud!

I like your comp with the cracked fg mud and the shredded trees. The misty atmosphere isolates these elements nicely.
If you've tried adding noise I'm not sure what else to suggest re the banding. Did you use a grad with this shot? Sometimes they can induce banding.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 142 Posts, 2623 Comments

Comment posted by Zack Clothier on August 15, 2012 at 4:01 AM

Wonderful shot, Dean, really moody. The composition works very well and I especially like the cracked mud in the foreground. What lake is this?

Nice story by the way

Registered on January 28, 2010, 343 Posts, 2257 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Hopgood on August 15, 2012 at 5:42 AM

Fantastic shot, love the simplicity. The muted palette, cracked mud leading to the stark trees. As for the banding perhaps noise reduction software that tends to smooth out the image.

Registered on May 23, 2012, 5 Posts, 30 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on August 15, 2012 at 10:07 AM

Glad you didn't sink any further. You might still be there like those trees.

The shot is simple, with nice mood from the fog, and the colors are naturally appealing. Very well done!

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

Comment posted by Tonia Graves on August 15, 2012 at 10:53 AM

Well at least you came away with a beautiful shot! The cracked earth, dead trees, and fog tell quite a story here. Nice work and glad you made it out alright!

Registered on October 29, 2011, 92 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Marco Crupi on August 15, 2012 at 10:55 AM

Great shot! I like the depth you were able to achieve! (no not the vertical mud one ; ) Got to get the shot I guess!! ) Lovely hues and a very interesting frame. Did the banding occur after you imported in PS by any chance (not knowing if you did so) If so check if the original Raw (or jpeg) file has it. Also did you use a grad ND filter on this shot? that also is known for producing a banding effect.
TMI indeed...now I have that image of you driving in my head...!! Glad you were able to make it back to your car.

Registered on April 22, 2012, 14 Posts, 69 Comments

Comment posted by Bunn Martin on August 15, 2012 at 11:08 AM

Overall a beautiful shot. Wonderful mood and colors. The cracked mud in the LL makes the image for me.

Registered on September 17, 2011, 38 Posts, 167 Comments

Comment posted by Kory Lidstrom on August 15, 2012 at 11:43 AM

Nice shot with a good moody feel. I LOL'd when you said you sank in up to your crotch. Doh!

Registered on November 19, 2008, 49 Posts, 1035 Comments

Comment posted by Abdullaziz Bin Ali on August 15, 2012 at 12:01 PM

Like this mood in the scene and the colors as well

Registered on May 31, 2009, 112 Posts, 1590 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on August 15, 2012 at 12:07 PM

Excellent image Dean, and funny story. I love the color contrast here, and the contradiction between the dry looking cracked earth against the water. Well done.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on August 15, 2012 at 12:18 PM

I am loving this image...I definitely am a sucker for cracked mud. Never thought I'd see this from Yellowstone. Cool stuff. Driving home in your underwear....not cool. I sympathize with your situation, as I almost did the same at Mono Lake, yet only sunk to my ankles and had to retrieve a boot from the muck when my foot slipped out of it. Ugggh, the smell. Ok, well enough of me. Glad you went back and got this sweet shot, Dean.

Registered on July 26, 2007, 244 Posts, 2807 Comments

Comment posted by Dean Sauskojus on August 15, 2012 at 1:48 PM

Thanks for the input and the comments.

David and Marco, I did use a grad over the top. There was some slight banding even in Raw but once I moved it into PS and did any adjustments that made it worse. I'll be curious if it shows up in a print.

Zack, this is a lake close to Norris Geyser Basin. It has no name but it definitely has that sulfur smell.

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

Comment posted by Michael J Greene, on August 15, 2012 at 3:08 PM

I really like the color balance and framing of this image. I don't think the banding is a big deal and it most likely won't be noticeable when printing.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 86 Posts, 2317 Comments

Comment posted by John Williams on August 15, 2012 at 3:11 PM

I too love the simplicity of this Dean, very engaging and wonderful photo. Well done.

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

Comment posted by Yiming Hu on August 15, 2012 at 3:13 PM

What a story. I like the simple and elegant composition, and the contrast between the vertical lines of the trees and the patterns of the ground.

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

Comment posted by Wick Smith on August 15, 2012 at 3:39 PM

Great composition - ditto what's been said above.

Registered on June 12, 2009, 91 Posts, 379 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on August 15, 2012 at 5:33 PM

Love the early (late?) light, the saturation and the mist to add depth to the whole. Wonderful image, Dean - possibly only upstaged by the accompanying dialogue

Hmm... wondering if you should add snowshoes to your arsenal.

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on August 15, 2012 at 6:33 PM

Love the ethereal mood here Dean. The cracked mud makes for a wonderful foreground but the skeleton trees and misty background make for a fantastic image.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on August 15, 2012 at 6:36 PM

A very artistic composition. The light and colors make it for me.

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

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on August 15, 2012 at 7:48 PM

Hi Dean, This is wonderful! You really captured this place in an awesome mood. Really nice work...

Interesting story as well...

Know the feeling!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by John Mumaw on August 15, 2012 at 8:23 PM

An outstanding composition in all ways. A great ethereal and desolate feel. I like this one a lot!
I can see the arc banding in the sky and assumed it was only present in the web version.
It's odd that this would appear in a 16 bit RAW image.

Registered on September 9, 2005, 62 Posts, 2289 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Turner on August 15, 2012 at 9:39 PM

Nice combo of elements. Great story too

Registered on February 18, 2012, 534 Posts, 2755 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce King on August 15, 2012 at 11:10 PM

Great shot Dean. No advice for the banding but it doesn't bother my eye anyway. Nice colors, stellar comp and all around excellent photography.

Registered on January 14, 2010, 276 Posts, 2212 Comments

Comment posted by Bret Edge on August 15, 2012 at 11:24 PM

I like you Dean, but I don't want to see you in your underwear.

Seriously though, this is a spectacular photo. Well worth the muddy dunk. The foreground is fantastic and the mood provided by the steam is really nice. I love this one!

I once sacrificed a Teva flip flop to mud in Yellowstone. I had to hike out about 1/2 mile wearing only one flip flop and honestly, I was lucky to even have that one. Seriously tenacious mud up your way.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 711 Posts, 6363 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on August 16, 2012 at 2:46 PM

For what it is worth, according to Jeff Shewe when I was dialoguing with him on a forum quite a while back, he said you cannot have banding/posterization in a raw file. The monitor can make it look like it is there, but it wont be in the file. Are you using ACR 7.1 and are you getting almost all the work done there? Are you working in 16 bit in PS? If you are not doing anything radical to the upper area the banding should not be there! And no noise will resolve posterization problems. If the tones don't exist in a file to give the continuous tone look, they are gone.

Love the photo BTW.

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Hamed Musharbak on August 16, 2012 at 7:11 PM

very nice, i love it

Registered on June 1, 2009, 372 Posts, 2282 Comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on August 17, 2012 at 2:14 PM

"I thought he wore blue jeans, where did he get those brown pants." HA HA, that made me laugh out loud Dean.

Love the shot, the skeletal trees and the cracked mud go hand in hand together and the mood created from the mist is excellent.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on August 17, 2012 at 4:38 PM

Excellent image. The light, comp, and contrasts are all excellent.

Good lesson. Always wear underwear.

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

Comment posted by Doug Koepsel on August 17, 2012 at 5:21 PM

I like the doomly combo of the mud cracks and the tree skeletons. The fog gives a nice mood to compliment the dead trees and cracks. To me, the vignette in the LRC is a tiny bit too dark in relation to the left side.

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

Comment posted by Doug Roane on August 18, 2012 at 9:09 PM

Great shot , Dean. The cracked mud works well for the foreground and I love the misty blue mood! The story is pretty funny, though I imagine it was pretty scary at the time!

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