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Stairs and Bears
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Stairs and Bears

by Michael Hardeman

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 21, 2015154 views5 comments

I got up to Winding Stair Mountain in southeast Oklahoma for the first time in 4 years this morning to shoot the sunrise with both my Nikon and my drone.  The wind made it to where just landing the drone without losing it was a major achievement, so I didn't get anything there.

But the stills were pretty good. While shooting this, I was constantly pestered by a very persistent armadillo, who would not be spooked.

Then, after shooting, an adolescent black bear was running along side the highway in the grass. I stopped to take his picture but he ducked into the brush. Wild morning.

Nikon D800, Nikor 28-300 set at about 200mm, Coken 120, ISO 100, 1/4 sec at f-16.

Comments

5 comments
Comment posted by Mark Seaver on June 21, 2015 at 1:16 PM

Michael, you've got some fine colors in the sky and a great series of near silhouettes heading into the distance.  To me, this feels dark and ominous and I wonder about some brightening, especially in the sky and clouds, but dark and moody may have been your intent.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments
Comment posted by Richard Teller on June 21, 2015 at 4:45 PM

I think this is a very good composition and the colors are great. I agree with Mark that it is a bit dark and could use some pop. 

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments
Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on June 22, 2015 at 2:03 PM

I like the different mountain layers. Also you have captured some nice colors in the sky.It's a bit on the dark side and I would brighten it up a bit.

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments
Comment posted by Harry Lichtman on June 22, 2015 at 8:31 PM

Vibrant skies and the dark hills have just enough detail.  A slight crop off the top would give a little more focus to the mnts. for me, and a pano is another obvious choice.  At least you have more options rather thatn fewer!

Registered on September 17, 2010, 304 Posts, 3507 Comments
Comment posted by Andrew Morrill on June 23, 2015 at 12:53 AM

When I first saw this image I thought it seemed like a large format image, but alas no. Really peaceful and meaningful comp. The sky blue could maybe be a bit closer to violet althought it still works great as is. Congrats.

Registered on June 10, 2010, 51 Posts, 216 Comments