peterfauland

Surfing the Wave

from my ongoing series 'landart -the wave'

from my ongoing series 'landart -the wave'
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Mar, 2013

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Awards

Action Award

Top Shot Award 21

Legendary Award

Brilliant

Top Choice

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

Outstanding Creativity

Jaw Dropping

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Behind The Lens

Location

This place is know as ‘The Wave’ and consists of sand dunes that over millions of years ossified into strange liquid shapes on the Coyote Buttes in Arizona’s Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area.

Time

After staying over night on location in order to capture the 'perfect moment', the early morning was rather unspectacular. So, I decided to wait a little longer. Suddenly the sky cleared up and some fast moving clouds created the kind of background I was looking for. It was probably around 08:30 AM.

Lighting

Be patient ! I spent a couple of days in the area. And luckily on the two days I had permits for, the first one was a good choice.

Equipment

Due to the long hike through the desert, I had to carry as little as possible. The image was taken with a 20mm lens on a Canon SLR body. The film used, was my beloved AGFA SCALA black & white slide film. YES, no digital at the time .... :-)

Inspiration

Many years ago, running over the pages of a travel magazine, I spotted a small and rather unimposing photograph of some rolling hills scenery. The surreal look, the strength of razor sharp swingled lines, the richness in tonality was breathtaking and I thought to myself: “This is a place I want to see at least once in my life!” I started investigating and it took quite some time before I read an enthusiastic article, written by a landscape photographer, about a place he recalled to be known as “The Wave”. If I had to summarize in one phrase, what this mystic place is all about, I would say it`s a frozen wave of sandstone. I did not let up and in autumn 2001, I was finally rewarded, finding myself in front of liquid rocks.

Editing

Besides scanning and cleaning up from dust, nothing was done to the image. I would love to share the "slide in projection" with you. The tonal range is amazing ....

In my camera bag

Today I travel with a range of mirror less FUJI X-cameras (X-Pro 1, X-T1, X100T) and mainly prime lenses. A couple of spare batteries, enough memory cards and a lightweight tripod - That's all I need !

Feedback

My first advice would be to do proper location scouting. Checking out the area in as much detail as possible allows to find the `perfect location`. Second, it's always good to be not in a hurry. For landscape photography patience is the key to great images. Sometimes, I spent days or even weeks before the conditions a right. Usually it pays off :-)

See more amazing photos, follow peterfauland

peterfauland

peterfauland

Surfing the Wave

from my ongoing series 'landart -the wave'

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow peterfauland

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