Golden Towers

Gallery: LandscapePosted May 28, 20132,028 views44 comments

The famous Three Towers of Chile's southern Andes were probably the most impressive vertical granite faces I've ever seen in person. Both the central tower here and the one behind it rise almost a vertical mile sheer from near where this photograph was taken. After a new autumn snow overnight fell atop the peaks, I made my way by headlamp up steep moraines and cliff bands behind the usual stopping point for visitors at the lakes below, in search of some more imposing wide-angle perspectives. What I found was an amazing water park with innumerable cascades rushing at high velocity over the polished granite. Fortunately, the skies cooperated that morning and I was granted some pretty nice light for shooting about 20 minutes after the sun first made an appearance.

Please let me know your thoughts. This is a single RAW file processed twice from a 14mm lens with no additional blending.

Comments

44 comments

Comment posted by Enrique Vizcarra on May 28, 2013 at 7:38 PM

Clouds touching the rocks, great moment and composition

Everything is on the right place

Registered on September 10, 2009, 223 Posts, 393 Comments

Comment posted by Buck Ward on May 28, 2013 at 7:44 PM

It's an amazing photograph.

It looks as if the towers are emitting steam.

Registered on December 8, 2003, 96 Posts, 1917 Comments

Comment posted by Sairam Sundaresan on May 28, 2013 at 7:50 PM

First glance I thought the mountains were billowing steam. Certainly an imposing viewpoint. The light is just great as always! kudos!

Registered on March 14, 2013, 100 Posts, 643 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on May 28, 2013 at 7:59 PM

"Fortunately, the skies cooperated that morning and I was granted some pretty nice light for shooting about 20 minutes after the sun first made an appearance."

"Pretty nice" is an understatement unless you mean PRETTY and NICE!

You scored huge time on that trip didn't you?

Does the great light just follow you?

All kidding aside, everything works in this image! Outstanding and wow factor for sure. The only thing I might (might) think to allow is a luminance brightness in the upper right cloud for eye flow more around the top right corner and down. But who knows.

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

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on May 28, 2013 at 8:00 PM

Something weird brc...but overalll...that doesnt suck ;)

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on May 28, 2013 at 8:06 PM

Miles, I agree. I did push that cloud really far though, and it just won't do more for me. It was barely there and pretty grey in the original file. Great light absolutely did follow me around in Patagonia. Certainly not the case for many trips I've done, but in this case it did. Lucky was definitely the word for it, but it was also about 300 miles of hiking and scouting on foot to be able to take full advantage of that. Fortunately I enjoyed every minute of it.

Aaron, thanks for catching that. I'd moved the frame around a bit and done different things to a printed large version and forgot to get rid of that piece there. Just in this version though. I just got lazy inspecting this before posting.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on May 28, 2013 at 8:47 PM

Perfect landscape photography. Although I tend to enjoy the left side much more than the right with all the light and cloud and water action. The right side just compliments everything to bring it together to perfection. Incredible work as usual.

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

Comment posted by Daniel Rappaport on May 28, 2013 at 9:34 PM

Great light and perspective.

Registered on September 9, 2009, 294 Posts, 2006 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Dawson on May 28, 2013 at 9:50 PM

Amazing work Marc, getting to places to few photographers with the skill to put it altogether, this defintely has the Wow Factor. Slight crop off the bottom right to get that odd triangle out but hardly noticeable amongst all the eye candy

Registered on February 4, 2006, 364 Posts, 8872 Comments

Comment posted by John Fan on May 28, 2013 at 10:24 PM

Everything in the frame is perfect. The texture in the water leads viewers attention to the light. Your signature dramatic effect. I wish your lens is slightly wider, or shift the frame up slightly to include a tad more sky. The reflection from the rock at lower left keeps pulling my eyes away.

Registered on August 24, 2010, 135 Posts, 489 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on May 28, 2013 at 10:28 PM

John, a blend for width or anything else would have been easy here and in fact I did take the images to put that together, however, after looking at that as an option I eventually decided that the abrupt rise at right overpowered the focal points I wanted so I decided against it. Thanks for your input.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Bobby Ho on May 28, 2013 at 10:36 PM

Absolutely Stunning! The color contrast and composition are superb. I am in-awe...

Registered on April 21, 2013, 14 Posts, 23 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on May 28, 2013 at 10:55 PM

I would say the skies cooperated. Holy sheet, those are some cool clouds. Real fine image, Marc.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Evan Olson on May 28, 2013 at 11:13 PM

Superb image here Mark. Truly captivating...

Registered on November 17, 2012, 31 Posts, 70 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on May 28, 2013 at 11:23 PM

Stunning. In particular, I like the wispy clouds with their gentle hint of color.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on May 28, 2013 at 11:36 PM

Sweet! The only thing missing is a sense of scale--this is one of those rare times i actually think a person in the frame might have added something (market value, anyways...) I really hope that Canon gets on the ball soon cause you're making me crave that Nikon...

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on May 28, 2013 at 11:43 PM

Ha! Yeah, a person would have been about one tenth the size of a small dust spot on the sensor here, Stan. This Nikon is nice and all but doesn't quite print the 200x300 inch print you'd need to pick out a person at the base of those peaks for scale! Thanks though. It's one of those times where all I can say is you'd have to see it yourself to see the scale, and even having done so I still find it hard to imagine.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Todd Liotine on May 28, 2013 at 11:48 PM

Excellent original work!

Registered on July 1, 2008, 131 Posts, 671 Comments

Comment posted by Jeremy Kessler on May 29, 2013 at 12:18 AM

This is stunning Marc. So nice to see these from a different perspective.

Registered on September 13, 2007, 36 Posts, 1283 Comments

Comment posted by Jose Fernandez on May 29, 2013 at 2:38 AM

It's the most beautiful picture I've seen of the Three Towers. Perfect image Marc

Registered on July 25, 2011, 77 Posts, 172 Comments

Comment posted by Ian Cameron on May 29, 2013 at 6:46 AM

Very dramatic Marc and excellent lighting. A place I would love to visit.

Registered on August 6, 2004, 1125 Posts, 3318 Comments

Comment posted by John Fan on May 29, 2013 at 8:07 AM

Looked at the image again in the morning. I notice a dark band like a brush mark in the sky following the right most peak. It could be the cloud does weird thing though.

All I can say is I wish I can quit my job to follow your footsteps. Winning a lottery might make my decision easier :-)

Registered on August 24, 2010, 135 Posts, 489 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on May 29, 2013 at 9:12 AM

Dramatic and dynamic comp Marc, in your signature style. Aaron already mentioned the BRC, and you mentioned that you already caught it. This is one of the places I want to really visit on this planet!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Breitkreuz on May 29, 2013 at 9:12 AM

Stunning work here, Marc. The pinnacle formations really capture what this area is all about. Some simply amazing geological structures throughout this pristine location. Excellent photographic and PP work a true trade mark of your talent as always.

Registered on February 25, 2006, 525 Posts, 8448 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on May 29, 2013 at 11:38 AM

Great image. Everything is just perfect.

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Dietrich Gloger on May 29, 2013 at 12:34 PM

Another fine image from your Patagonia collection. It is really hard to grasp the original scale here. The formations reminds me of the "tre cime" in Italy. I have seen them in person and the scale (in this image) looks comparable, although their vertical rise from the base is just ~1/3 mile.
Regarding composition, this looks great as ususal. I find the processing at the borders (bottom in particular) to be a tad (too) dark, also the sky, perhaps.

Registered on January 26, 2007, 360 Posts, 9876 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on May 29, 2013 at 12:47 PM

A few touch-ups in this version. I had originally proofed this over, but for some reason I didn't take this web image from my proofed file. In addition to those corrections, I also brightened it a bit. It looked better on black though....

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Dietrich Gloger on May 29, 2013 at 12:56 PM

Yeah, I like the "lighter" version, I think the subject matter works well with the brighter approach.

Registered on January 26, 2007, 360 Posts, 9876 Comments

Comment posted by Phil Pogledich on May 29, 2013 at 1:33 PM

This looks fabulous to me. Your repost addressed the minor issues in the original, which frankly made no impression on me when I first viewed this. I don't personally feel that a sense of scale is lacking...I mean, it's a set of granite spires that literally touch the clouds. That is sense of scale enough for me.

Registered on August 24, 2009, 123 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on May 29, 2013 at 2:37 PM

This is so beautiful! What a place and you captured it so well. Really nice, Marc!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

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

Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on May 29, 2013 at 2:57 PM

I like this alternative vantage point and the light you had looked pretty intense. I get the feel that the cascades are more the subject than the towers by their relative size in the image. You're right about the scale - difficult to show the imense size of them regardless of the comp. The advantage of the shots with the lake included is that the viewer gets more of a sense of depth. Glad you didn't slip on those wet slopes, it may have been a while before anyone found you up there!

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments

Comment posted by Morris McClung on May 29, 2013 at 6:02 PM

Sweet light and color, and I like the clouds hanging like flags on the peaks. The golden light goes so well with the blue sky, too. Excellent leading comp as always.

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

Comment posted by John Neukirch on May 29, 2013 at 8:36 PM

Absolutely stunning Marc, I love your composition with the low POV. A truely spectacular image to be displayed on the wall.

Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Ward on May 29, 2013 at 10:26 PM

Marc,

This is a stunning image! That's some fabulous light and clouds. I might be tempted to dodge some of the foreground water highlights... especially in the lower left to create an opposing motion to the clouds. Great presence in the image.

Registered on February 26, 2009, 304 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Matt Anderson on May 29, 2013 at 11:37 PM

As good as it gets.
Galen would be impressed.

Registered on September 6, 2007, 346 Posts, 2696 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on May 30, 2013 at 9:04 AM

Spectacular light and I love the diagonal water flow, Marc. Looks like you came away with some beautiful work from your trip.

Ed

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

Comment posted by Jimmy Gekas on May 30, 2013 at 12:11 PM

Awesomeness!

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

Comment posted by Tom Kualii on May 30, 2013 at 12:50 PM

I hope to one day meet you Marc and take your workshops. Great inspiration you are.

Registered on November 24, 2010, 53 Posts, 139 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Palmieri on May 30, 2013 at 10:22 PM

Beautiful Marc!

Registered on September 1, 2011, 35 Posts, 748 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on June 1, 2013 at 1:45 AM

Beautiful light and color Marc. I especially like your exposure for the waterfalls.

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

Comment posted by Chris Moore on June 2, 2013 at 9:45 PM

Great job, Marc. My initial thought (other than this being a stellar image), was that the luminosity of the blues in the sky was a little dark. No one else mentioned it, so it's probably not significant. Well done as always

Registered on January 12, 2010, 84 Posts, 388 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on June 5, 2013 at 12:19 PM

exquisite - congrats on another WP!
Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Pavel Cakl on July 10, 2013 at 12:51 PM

Hi Marc, I think you mentioned once somewhere that you do not really like just the "wow", "amazing", etc. comments but I am not really sure what more to say on this one. To me the re-post is better but I cannot really comment on any technical processing or composition. I can just comment on what I see and feel when I look at any of your posts and it is always just joy watching the beauty of the nature and your mastery in capturing it. So many thanks for sharing it with us.

Just wondering if you consider making any online/video processing tutorials ever as I will probably not be able to meet you in person ever in my life to ask :-( Well at least not in this one :-)

Registered on April 8, 2010, 7 Posts, 178 Comments

Comment posted by Pavel Cakl on July 11, 2013 at 11:24 AM

Also wondering if you use Nikon D800 or 800E (I recon 800E) and if you use any filters with you 14-24 ? Cheers :-)

Registered on April 8, 2010, 7 Posts, 178 Comments